Characterization of Optical Fibers Using a Modified FT-IR Spectrometer

Optical fibers are becoming increasingly important in the areas of data communication and sensing as advantage is taken of their low attenuations, which result in little signal loss over long distances of fiber. However, the fiber attenuations are wavelength dependent, and there are spectral regions where the fibers have lower attenuations as well as areas where the light losses are very severe. In order for one to select the best regions for transmission, the fiber must be well characterized spectroscopically.