Polarization Maintaining Fibers

Polarization Maintaining Fibers available from Stock
Our range of PANDA-type polarization maintaining (PM) optical fibers available from stock is suitable for applications where maintaining the light’s polarization over the length of the fiber is key.

These fibers feature extremely high birefringence, excellent polarization maintaining properties and low attenuation. PM fibers are available with coating outer diameters of 245 µm or 400 µm, suitable for transmission of light with operating wavelengths of 1300 nm or 1550 nm.

Product Portfolio
AMS Technologies’ portfolio also includes many more PANDA-type PM fiber products for operating wavelengths ranging from 410 nm to 1550 nm and with a variety of coating designs. In addition to standard versions, these PANDA PM fibers are also available with special features like bend insensitivity, high numerical aperture, thermally-diffused expanded core, reduced cladding, or are optimized for the RGB visible wavelength band.

As an option, some of our polarization maintaining fibers can be tapered and lensed or metallized with high-performance gold coatings, allowing the fibers to work reliably even at extreme temperatures and to withstand harsh environmental conditions.

Some of the fibers can be equipped with anti-reflection technologies, enhancing transmission performance and increasing damage thresholds. In addition to common anti-reflection coatings, a technology based on nano-structures on the surface is available for selected fibers.

Related Products
Beyond poralization maintaining fibers, our large portfolio of optical and specialty fibers for a wide wavelength range includes single mode (SM) fibers and multi mode (MM) fibers as well as doped fibers or plastic optical fibers (POF).

Complementing our optical fiber offerings, AMS Technologies carries a large portfolio of fiber connectors, accompanied by a range of corresponding female mating sleeves and adapters. AMS Technologies can also offer an end-to-end solution for the assembly and test of fiber connectors that is exactly tailored to your requirements. In our broad portfolio you can find tools for stripping and cleaving your fibers, gluing and curing the fiber into the fiber connector using optical adhesives, polishing and cleaning of fiber optic end faces (especially important if the fiber is used with higher optical power), and finally testing your fiber connector with microscopes, interferometers as well as handheld and automated test equipment measuring return loss.

If you prefer pre-manufactured, ready to use fibers with the connectors already assembled to them, take a look at our range of SM, MM or PM patch cables. Shaped fiber tips or endcaps are further available options, improving the performance of the fiber-to-air interface, especially for high optical powers.

You need multiple fibers with or without connectors, manufactured, bundled and tested to your specifications? AMS Technologies has a proven track record of working with our OEM customers to design and build the most different configurations of bundled assemblies for a wide variety of photonics systems. Get in touch with the AMS Technologies optical fiber experts to discuss your customized fiber assembly or bundle that is tailored to meet your project’s specific requirements.

Definition
Optical or glass fibers can be used for many different applications, with the main purpose to transport light over a certain distance. Optical fibers consist mainly of a core with a certain diameter, a cladding and a coating.

In any ordinary optical fiber, tiny imperfections cause random changes to the polarity of light propagating through the fiber. For some applications where maintaining the light’s polarization is key, a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF or PM fiber) is used. In most versions of this single-mode specialty fiber, tension rods are integrated into the fiber’s cladding on opposite sides of the core, inducing a strong but tightly controlled birefringence. If linearly polarized light is properly launched into a PM fiber it maintains its linear polarization during propagation.

Most common PM fiber types are defined by the shape and position of the stress rods. The cross-section of a PANDA-PM fiber resembles the face of a panda bear with the typical dark circles around the bear’s eyes, while the cross-section of a Bow-Tie PM fiber with its stress rods in the shape of a trapezoidal prism looks like a bow tie. Both PM fiber types are interchangeable for most applications.

To make polarization maintaining fibers usable in harsh environments at higher temperatures, they can be metallized with aluminium or gold coatings according to the customer’s specification. An additional flexible metal tube can protect the fiber and offer more durability in industrial applications.

For enhanced transmission performance and increased damage thresholds, parts of our polarization maintaining fiber portfolio can be equipped with anti-reflection technologies. In addition to common anti-reflection coatings, a technology based on nano-structures on the surface is available for selected fibers.

Further options include to equip some of the fibers with a broad selection of shaped tips – standard configurations as well as custom designed shapes – or end-caps to achieve higher coupled power into a fiber core by reducing the power density at the air / silica interface.

Alternative Terms: Polarization Maintaining Optical Fiber; PM Fiber; PMF; Polarization Maintaining Fiber Optic Cable; PM Fiber Optic Cable; Panda Fiber; Bow-tie Fiber; Glass Fiber

ME Metalized Fibers

Gold Coated, Other Materials on Request; Fiber Type SM, MM, PM; Metalization Thickness 1.65 to 5.2 µm; Maximum Plating Length 50 mm; Operating Temperature -40 to +85 °C OZ Optics’ ME series of metalized fibers are specifically designed for optoelectronic packaging. The fiber is first coated with a layer of nickel to provide superior adhesion and a stable soldering base. The fiber is then plated with an overcoat layer of gold to provide resistance to oxidization. The result is a strong, uniform coating capable of handling the rigors of soldering and hermetic sealing. OZ Optics metalized fibers are well suited for use in assemblies that must conform to Telcordia requirements. If required, OZ Optics metalized fibers can be manufactured with masked ends. This process provides a clean, non-metalized fiber end suitable for termination with ceramic ferrules, fusion splicing or direct connection to a device and allows for an easy transformation of devices into hermetically sealed packages. Also available are custom mid-span metalization of optical fibers and metalized ribbon fibers. The mid-span configuration provides a solution for hermetically sealing in-fiber devices such as fiber Bragg gratings, optical isolators or optical filters, as well as allowing larger package devices that exceed the length restrictions of standard metalized fibers. Metalization of ribbon fibers allows for easy hermetic sealing of multiple fibers into hermetic packages that require many fibers or are being used with V-Groove assemblies. OZ Optics metalized fibers are available with Single Mode (SM), Multi Mode (MM) or Polarization Maintaining (PM) fibers. In general, OZ Optics uses polarization maintaining fibers based on the PANDA fiber structure when building polarization maintaining components and patch cords. However, OZ Optics can construct devices using other PM fiber structures. OZ Optics also carries some alternative fiber types in stock, please contact AMS Technologies for availability. If necessary, OZ Optics is willing to use customer supplied fibers to build devices. Key Features: Single Mode (SM), Multi Mode (MM) or Polarization Maintaining (PM) Fibers Easy to Solder Cleaved Enfaces Available Unplated (Masked) Ends Available Mid-span Plating Available Designed to Meet Telcordia Requirements Large Volume Manufacturing Capacity Custom Configurations Available Applications: Hermetic Feed-throughs; Integrated Optics Packaging; Diode Pigtailing

Product number: SW10913

Manufacturer: OZ Optics

PANDA PM Polarization Maintaining Optical Fibers

400 to 1550 nm; Mode Field Dia. 2.3 to 10.5 µm; Cladding Dia. 80, 125 µm Field-proven as the industry standard, Corning’s PANDA PM series of polarization maintaining (PM) optical fibers are designed with the best polarization maintaining properties and are the industry standard in the world today. The fibers offer low attenuation and excellent birefringence for high-performance applications. The PANDA PM fiber design uses two stress applying parts to create an extremely high birefringence, resulting in fiber with excellent polarization maintaining properties. This design was invented and patented by Corning. Available in a wide range of standard operating wavelengths from 400 up to 1550 nm and with a variety of coating designs, PANDA PM specialty fibers are optimal for high-performance polarization maintaining fiber applications. This field-proven fiber supports high growth applications and performs well over a wide temperature range. Corning offers the broadest portfolio of PANDA PM fibers with a wide range of design options. In addition to regular PANDA PM fibers, Corning’s PANDA PM series of polarization maintaining (PM) optical fibers include: Bend-insensitive products (PANDA PM Bend Insensitive: PMBI, PMSR) Variants with high numerical aperture (PANDA PM High NA: PM13-HNA, PM85-HNA) Fibers with thermally-diffused expanded core (HA15-PS-U25D(TEC)) Variants with reduced cladding (RC PANDA PM: RC PM, RC13-15-PX-U17EBL-M4) Models optimized for RGB wavelength band (PANDA RGB PM: PM-RGB-U25D) Special coatings like flame retardant For more information please refer to the Corning® PANDA PM fibers datasheets. Key Features: Two Stress Applying Parts Creating an Extremely High Birefringence Excellent Polarization Maintaining (PM) Properties Operating Wavelengths: 400 to 1550 nm Max. Attenuation: 0.5 to ≤50 dB/km Applications: Laser and LED Sources; Sensors and Gyroscopes; External Modulators; Dynamic Gain/Spectrum Equalizers; Optical Switches; Optical Fiber Coupling; Splitters, Combiners, Tap Couplers; Planar Waveguide Devices; DWDMs; OADMs; Polarization Multiplexers; Polarization Sensitive Components; Arrayed Devices; Optical Amplifiers; Pump Lasers; Probes/Instrumentation

Product number: SW11000

Manufacturer: Corning

PM Fiber, 1300nm, PM 13-U25D

Wavelength 1300nm, coating outer diameter 245µm ± 15.PANDA high performance polarisation maintaining specialty optical fiber. Key optical specifications Wavelength (nm) 1300 Mode-field Diameter (μm) 9.0 ± 0.5 Beat Length Range (mm) 2.5-4.0 Maximum Cross Talk at 100 m (dB) -30 Typical Cross Talk at 4 m (dB) -40 Cutoff Wavelength (nm) 1130-1270 Maximum Attenuation (dB/km) 1.0 Key geometric, mechanical and environmental specifications (-U25D) UV/UV Acrylate Core-to-Cladding Offset (μm) ≤ 0.5 Coating Outer Diameter (μm) 245 ± 15 Cladding Outer Diameter (μm) 125 ± 1 Standard Lengths* 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 1 km Proof Test (kpsi) 100 (200 optional) Operating Temperature (°C) -40 to 85 * For longer lengths contact us

Product number: C007151-0

Manufacturer: Corning

€17.49*

PM Fiber, 1300nm, PM 13-U40D

Wavelength 1300nm, coating outer diameter 400µm ± 15.PANDA high performance polarisation maintaining specialty optical fiber. Key optical specifications Wavelength (nm) 1300 Mode-field Diameter (μm) 9.0 ± 0.5 Beat Length Range (mm) 2.5-4.0 Maximum Cross Talk at 100 m (dB) -30 Typical Cross Talk at 4 m (dB) -40 Cutoff Wavelength (nm) 1130-1270 Maximum Attenuation (dB/km) 1.0 Key geometric, mechanical and environmental specifications (-U40D) UV/UV Acrylate Core-to-Cladding Offset (μm) ≤ 0.5 Coating Outer Diameter (μm) 400 ± 15 Cladding Outer Diameter (μm) 125 ± 1 Standard Lengths* 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 1 km Proof Test (kpsi) 100 (200 optional) Operating Temperature (°C) -40 to 85 * For longer lengths contact us

Product number: C019215-6

Manufacturer: Corning

€17.49*

PM Fiber, 1550nm, PM 15-U25D

Wavelength 1550nm, coating outer diameter 245µm ± 15.PANDA high performance polarisation maintaining specialty optical fiber. Key optical specifications Wavelength (nm) 1550 Mode-field Diameter (μm) 10.5 ± 0.5 Beat Length Range (mm) 3.0-5.0 Maximum Cross Talk at 100 m (dB) -30 Typical Cross Talk at 4 m (dB) -40 Cutoff Wavelength (nm) 1300-1440 Maximum Attenuation (dB/km) 0.5 Key geometric, mechanical and environmental specifications (-U25D) UV/UV Acrylate Core-to-Cladding Offset (μm) ≤ 0.5 Coating Outer Diameter (μm) 245 ± 15 Cladding Outer Diameter (μm) 125 ± 1 Standard Lengths* 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 1 km Proof Test (kpsi) 100 (200 optional) Operating Temperature (°C) -40 to 85 * For longer lengths contact us

Product number: C019310-6

Manufacturer: Corning

€17.49*

PM Fiber, 1550nm, PM 15-U40D

Wavelength 1550nm, coating outer diameter 400µm ± 15.PANDA high performance polarisation maintaining specialty optical fiber. Key optical specifications Wavelength (nm) 1550 Mode-field Diameter (μm) 10.5 ± 0.5 Beat Length Range (mm) 3.0-5.0 Maximum Cross Talk at 100 m (dB) -30 Typical Cross Talk at 4 m (dB) -40 Cutoff Wavelength (nm) 1300-1440 Maximum Attenuation (dB/km) 0.5 Key geometric, mechanical and environmental specifications (-U40D) UV/UV Acrylate Core-to-Cladding Offset (μm) ≤ 0.5 Coating Outer Diameter (μm) 400 ± 15 Cladding Outer Diameter (μm) 125 ± 1 Standard Lengths* 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 1 km Proof Test (kpsi) 100 (200 optional) Operating Temperature (°C) -40 to 85 * For longer lengths contact us

Product number: C019304-6

Manufacturer: Corning

€17.49*

PMF/QPMF Polarization Maintaining Fibers

350-2200 nm; Core Diameter 2-20 µm; Cladding Diameter 125, 130, 250 µm; Mode Field Diameter 2.3-10.5 µm; Numerical Aperture 0.08-0.2; Polarization Crosstalk <-20, <-25, <-30 dB OZ Optics offers a wide range of optical fibers suitable for many applications. PMF/QPMF polarization maintaining (PM) fibers come in a variety of fiber sizes, operating wavelengths, and fiber types, and can be assembled into patchcords or more complex fiber optic components to suit your needs. OZ Optics categorizes fibers based on fiber type, operating wavelengths, core/cladding size, jacket diameter, and numerical aperture (NA). OZ Optics’ PMF/QPMF polarization maintaining (PM) fibers are a special variety of single mode (SM) fibers, designed to maintain the polarization properties of linearly polarized light sources, provided that the light is launched along either the slow or fast axes of the fiber. The most common method to do this is by adding two stress applying parts (SAP) on either side of the fiber core. OZ Optics’ standard PM fibers use a PANDA fiber geometry, with two circular stress rods. OZ Optics can provide fibers with other geometries, such as Bow-tie PM fibers. Like OZ Optics’ single mode fibers, the wavelength range is limited by their cutoff wavelengths and bend sensitivity at long wavelengths. OZ Optics offers special broadband RGB PM fibers for visible light applications, able to transmit light from 400 nm to 650 nm. Standard PM fibers (PMF) normally have a germanium doped core with a pure silica cladding, while for wavelengths shorter than 600 nm, OZ Optics instead uses fibers with a pure fused silica core with a fluorine doped cladding (QPMF fibers). For many high-power applications transmitting tens of Watts of optical power, standard single mode fibers are not suitable because of their small core size. On the other hand, multi mode fibers suffer from speckle patterns and large beam sizes. Large mode area (LMA) fibers offer a compromise by giving a large core size for high power handling at the expense of a lower numerical aperture, making them more sensitive to bending losses. In many cases, these fibers are not truly single mode, but are better described as low-order multi mode fibers. However, by carefully controlling how light is launched in these fibers and how much they bend, one can transmit nearly single mode light, thus generating output beams that can be focused to the small spot sizes needed for laser marking, welding and machining operations. Key Features: Huge Variety of Fibers Available Uncabled and Precabled Polarization Maintaining (PM) and Large Mode Area (LMA) Polarization Maintaining Fibers Fibers for Wavelengths from 350 nm to 2200 nm Core Diameter: 2 µm to 8.7 µm, 20 µm for Large Mode Area (LMA) Fibers Cladding Diameter: 125 µm, LMA Fibers Also 130, 250 µm Mode Field Diameter: 2.3 µm to 10.5 µm Jacket or Buffer Diameter: 0.25 mm to 0.9 mm Attenuation: <0.5 dB/km to <200 dB/km Numerical Aperture (NA): 0.11 to 0.2, 0.08 to 0.085 for Large Mode Area (LMA) Fibers Effective Numerical Aperture (1/e²): 0.082 to 0.155 Polarization Crosstalk: <-20, <-25, <-30 dB Applications: Telecommunications; Life Sciences and Biotechnology; Industrial; Sensing

Product number: SW11964

Manufacturer: OZ Optics