Multiple-cladding fibers with reduced bend loss

We demonstrate that a highly bend-resistant fiber can be realized. It is shown theoretically that, by introducing both depressed and elevated rings into the cladding, bending loss can be reduced significantly. A fiber based on this design has been fabricated and characterized as a first step toward achieving this goal. The results show that a multiple-cladding fiber is highly bend resistant when compared with the standard telecom single-mode fiber.