HIGH-BANDWIDTH, GRADED-INDEX POLYMER OPTICAL-FIBER FOR NEAR-INFRARED USE

We describe graded-index polymer optical fibers with high bandwidth (5 .12 GHz for 100-m transmission) and low loss in the near-infrared regi on (56 and 115 dB/km at wavelengths of 688 and 773 nm, respectively) t hat we successfully obtained with a new interfacial-gel polymerization technique using an all-deuterated methyl methacrylate monomer and a p artially fluorinated acrylate monomer. The necessity for both low atte nuation and high bandwidth for a polymer optical fiber is described fo r its use as a physical media in a high-speed multimedia network. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America.