PROPERTIES OF PLASTIC OPTICAL FIBERS

Experimental and theoretical studies of the optical properties of larg e-core step-index plastic optical fibers (POF's) and graded-index POF' s are reported. A set of criteria and analyses of physical parameters is developed in the context of major issues of POF applications in sho rt-distance communication systems. Analyses are presented to show how the measured POF optical attenuation affects the overall performance i n wavelength-division multiplexing and how the use of perfluorinated p olymers can overcome limitations inherent in current POF materials. Re sults of POF optical bandwidth measurements by direct picosecond time- domain methods are reported, and their relationship to refractive-inde x profiles are theoretically analyzed by the WKB and finite-element me thods. Two high-resolution optical techniques of refracted near-field and transverse interferometric methods are presented and are used to m easure the index profiles of large-core POF's. Results reveal that the index profile of currently available graded-index POF is not paraboli c, which significantly limits its bandwidth compared with that of a tr ue parabolic graded-index profile. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America .