Measured lose for the LP11 mode in a dual-mode fiber subjected to a un
iform bend shows a strong dependence on the orientation of the mode-fi
eld pattern relative to the plane of the fiber bend. Wavelength and be
nd-radius dependence of the loss indicates that operation within appro
ximately 40 nm of cutoff is feasible in dispersion compensators based
on dual-mode fibers operated in the LP11 spatial mode near cutoff.