An MCF having a structure excellent in mass productivity and suppressing increases in splicing cost and loss are provided. The MCF includes 12 or 16 cores, a cladding, and a coating. The cores are arranged at positions of line symmetry while no adjacent relationship is established between the cores having an adjacent relationship with any core. A coating diameter is 235-265 μm, a cladding diameter CD is from CD.sub.nominal−1 μm to CD.sub.nominal+1 μm with a nominal value CD.sub.nominal of 195 μm or less, an MFD at 1310 nm is from MFD-reference-value−0.4 μm to the MCF-reference-value+0.4 μm with the MFD-reference-value of 8.2-9.2 μm, and a 22 m-cable-cutoff wavelength λ.sub.cc is 1260-1360 nm. A core's zero-dispersion wavelength is a wavelength-reference-value−12 nm to the wavelength-reference-value+12 nm with the wavelength-reference-value of 1312-1340 nm, and a dispersion slope at the wavelength is 0.092 ps/(nm.sup.2.Math.km) or less. A shortest distance from a cover-cladding interface to each core center, a structure, and optical characteristics satisfy predetermined conditions.

An object is to provide a multi-core configuration for acquiring a random mode coupling in a case of an arbitrary core refractive index.

A multi-core optical fiber according to the present invention is an optical fiber in which two or more core regions are arranged in a clad region having a refractive index at a minimum core interval Λ smaller than a refractive index of the cores, a configuration of the cores is that including one propagation mode, and the core configuration and the core interval are adjusted so that an inter-mode coupling coefficient between adjacent cores is within a range from 0.73 to 120 m.sup.−1.

A method for reducing nonlinear frequency shifts and suppressing stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a fiber laser amplifier system. The method includes providing a seed beam having a certain wavelength and frequency modulating the seed beam with an RF waveform to spectrally broadening the seed beam, where the RF waveform is a relatively slow-speed waveform having a large modulation depth. The method also includes amplifying the frequency modulated seed beam with an amplifier having a large nonlinear phase shift and exhibiting frequency modulation (FM) to amplitude modulation (AM) conversion, where the modulation depth is much larger than the nonlinear phase shift of the amplifier.

An optical fiber includes a glass portion, a primary coating layer, and a secondary coating layer. In the optical fiber, a value of microbend loss characteristic factor F.sub.μBL_GO is 2.6 ([GPa.sup.−1.Math.μm.sup.−10.5.Math.dB/turn].Math.10.sup.−27) or less, when represented by
F.sub.μBL_GO=F.sub.μBL_G×F.sub.μBL_O
by using geometry microbend loss characteristic F.sub.μBL_G and optical microbend loss characteristic F.sub.μBL_O.

Optical fibers having a large effective area and a low cutoff wavelength are disclosed. Three main embodiments of the optical fiber allow for single-mode operation at wavelengths greater than 980 nm, and have a large effective area with low bend losses and low dispersion at 1310 nm. The large effective area optical fiber is expected to be particularly useful for data center applications due to its ability to efficiently optically couple with VCSELs and photonic integrated devices. Integrated systems and optical communication systems that employ the optical fibers are also disclosed.

An MCF having a structure excellent in mass productivity and suppressing increases in splicing cost and loss are provided. The MCF includes 12 or 16 cores, a cladding, and a coating. The cores are arranged at positions of line symmetry while no adjacent relationship is established between the cores having an adjacent relationship with any core. A coating diameter is 235-265 μm, a cladding diameter CD is from CD.sub.nominal−1 μm to CD.sub.nominal+1 μm with a nominal value CD.sub.nominal of 195 μm or less, an MFD at 1310 nm is from MFD-reference-value−0.4 μm to the MCF-reference-value+0.4 μm with the MFD-reference-value of 8.2-9.2 μm, and a 22 m-cable-cutoff wavelength λ.sub.cc is 1260-1360 nm. A core's zero-dispersion wavelength is a wavelength-reference-value−12 nm to the wavelength-reference-value+12 nm with the wavelength-reference-value of 1312-1340 nm, and a dispersion slope at the wavelength is 0.092 ps/(nm.sup.2.Math.km) or less. A shortest distance from a cover-cladding interface to each core center, a structure, and optical characteristics satisfy predetermined conditions.

The present invention relates to a method and device for measuring optical nonlinearity of an optical fiber to be measured comprising a plurality of cores having mutually coupled waveguide modes. The method includes, at least, preparing a laser light source emitting laser light and a detecting unit determining an optical intensity, inputting laser light into a specific core of the optical fiber to be measured, determining the intensity of a specific wavelength component caused by optical nonlinearity among the reflective light components from the optical fiber to be measured, and determining optical nonlinearity of the optical fiber to be measured on the basis of the intensity of the specific wavelength component.

Small-radius coated optical fibers having large mode field diameter and low bending losses. The coated fiber may have an outer radius of 110 μm or less, while providing a mode field diameter of 9.0 μm or greater and a bending loss when wrapped about a 15 mm mandrel of 0.5 dB/km or less at wavelength of 1550 nm. The coated fiber may have a mode field diameter of 9.2 μm or greater and may have a bending loss at 1550 nm of 0.25 dB/km or less when wrapped about a 20 mm mandrel or a bending loss at 1550 nm of 0.02 dB/km or less when wrapped about a 30 mm mandrel.

An optical fiber comprising: a core having an outer radius r.sub.1; a cladding having an outer radius r.sub.4<45 microns; a primary coating surrounding the cladding and having an outer radius r.sub.5 and a thickness t.sub.p>8 microns, the primary coating having in situ modulus E.sub.P of 0.35 MPa or less and a spring constant χ.sub.P<1.6 MPa, where χ.sub.P=2E.sub.P r.sub.4/t.sub.P; and a secondary coating surrounding said primary coating, the secondary coating having an outer radius r.sub.6, a thickness t.sub.S=r.sub.6−r.sub.5, in situ modulus E.sub.S of 1200 MPa or greater, wherein >10 microns and r.sub.6≤85 microns. The fiber has a mode field diameter MFD greater than 8.2 microns at 1310 nm; a cutoff wavelength of less than 1310 nm; and a bend loss at a wavelength of 1550 nm, when wrapped around a mandrel having a diameter of 10 mm, of less than 1.0 dB/turn.

An optical fiber, such as in some instances a high-power, diode-pumped, dual-clad, ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier (YDFAs), having a fundamental mode and at least one higher order mode, wherein the higher order mode or modes have mode areas that are substantially larger than a mode area of the fundamental mode.