We realized single-mode hole-assisted optical fiber (HAF) cord whose fiber has a superior bending loss characteristic that complies with ITU-T Recommendation G. 657 for use in highly reliable optical fiber distribution facilities in central offices. The cord has an excellent anti-shock characteristic, and can be scanned by a conventional optical fiber cord identifier despite its very low bending loss. Experiments show that the single-mode HAF cord and its application to optical signal distribution in a central office can provide highly service reliability.

The dispersion and the splice characteristics of optical fibers with trench-index profile are investigated. The normalized distance between core and trench is preferably larger than 3.0 to realize complete compatibility with the standard G.652 fiber in terms of chromatic dispersion. The optical fiber realizes compatibility with ITU-T Recommendation G.652 fiber and bend-insensitivity simultaneously. Fabricated fibers with the trench-index profiles can be spliced to standard single-mode fiber with low losses, which have similar values with simulation results.

We have developed a novel type of holey fiber which has a conventional raised-index core surrounded by two layers of air holes with different sizes. The fiber has single-mode operation and shows a low bending loss even for an extremely small bending diameter and a low splicing loss for fusion splicing to a conventional single-mode fiber. The structure and the properties of the fiber are reported in this paper.

A single-mode fiber employing a trench index profile for indoor wiring is proposed to realize low-bending loss and low-splice loss simultaneously. The designs and the advantages of the fiber over fibers with conventional step index profiles are described. The characteristics of manufactured fibers with trench index profiles are also described. One of the manufactured fibers realizes a bending loss of 0.018 dB/turn at 1550 nm for a bending radius of 7.5 mm, and a splice loss of 0.19 dB at 1550 nm in mechanical splicing to a conventional single mode fiber simultaneously. Other one of the fibers realizes a bending loss of 0.011 dB/turn at 1550 nm for a bending radius of 5 mm, and the splice loss is 0.37 dB at 1550 nm simultaneously. A total loss of a fiber employing the trench index is small and stable against the fluctuation of MFD.

This paper reports on the bending loss insensitive single mode fiber suitable for access networks, which is applicable for wide wavelength use. Excellent attenuation stability of the fiber in the full spectrum range has been confirmed even in severe conditions such as fiber handling in mid-span access at aerial closure, cable installation/handling in indoor wirings and so on. Also, applications suitable for FTTH subscribers' use have been introduced.

We investigated the reflection of light caused by sharp bends in optical fiber experimentally. The position distribution of reflection power was measured using an OTDR and an OLCR. We found that the reflection power increased linearly as the logarithm of the bending loss increased, which agrees with expectation from a simple theoretical model. We believe that the light we observed was part of the leaked light, which was reflected between the primary and secondary coatings.

A model for estimating the bending loss of 1.3 µm zero-dispersion single-mode fibers at 1.58 µm from the value at 1.55 µm is investigated experimentally and theoretically. An approximated equation for estimating the bending loss ratio of 1.58 µm to 1.55 µm is proposed, which provides good agreement with the experimental results.

Optical waveguides are one of the key devices for photonic integrated circuits considered to be one of the candidates for optical interconnects. In particular lossless bend type waveguides are necessary to integrate different optical devices monolithically. In this paper, we report on the bending loss characteristics of the multi-quantum well bend waveguide with respect to the bend radius and lateral optical mode confinement. We show that to decrease the bending loss to less than 0.5 dB, it is necessary to increase either the confinement or the bend radius. For an example, when the confinement is around 85%, the bend radius should be more than 2 mm. We also show the application of the S-bend waveguides to directional coupler type optical switch.