Provided is a special optical fiber for measuring a 3D curved shape, and a system for measuring the 3D curved shape by using a special optical fiber. The special optical fiber comprises: an optical fiber core for transmitting an optical signal; an inner cladding covering the optical fiber core; and an outer cladding covering the inner cladding. In particular, the refractive index (n1) of the optical fiber core, the refractive index (n2) of the inner cladding, and the refractive index (n3) of the outer cladding are set in a relationship of n1≥n3>n2. The inner cladding covering the optical fiber core has a cut portion in the longitudinal direction. The optical fiber core is exposed through the cut portion. In addition, the cut portion is filled with a material having the same refractive index as the optical fiber core or the outer cladding.

The present disclosure provides optical fibers that exhibit low macrobend loss at 1550 nm at bend diameters greater than 40 mm. The relative refractive index profile of the fibers includes a trench cladding region having a trench volume configured to minimize macrobend loss at large bend diameters. The thickness and/or depth of the trench cladding region are controlled to reduce trench volume to a degree consistent with reducing macrobend loss at bend diameters greater than 40 mm. The optical fiber includes an outer cladding region that surrounds and is directly adjacent to the trench cladding region and an optional offset cladding region between the trench cladding region and the core region. In some embodiments, the core region is a segmented core region that includes inner and outer core regions. The low macrobend loss available from the optical fibers makes them particularly suitable for applications in submarine telecommunications systems.

An optical fiber sensor with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution is described. The optical fiber sensor includes a multicore fiber having cores configured to permit crosstalk between cores. Crosstalk corresponds to transfer of an optical signal from a core to another core and is used as a mechanism for sensing the external environment surrounding the multicore optical fiber. The degree of crosstalk depends on the relative refractive index profile of the cores and surrounding cladding, as well as on the spacing between cores. The external environment surrounding the multicore optical fiber and changes therein influence crosstalk between cores to permit sensing. The relative refractive index profiles of the cores are also configured to provide a group delay difference for optical signals propagating in different cores. The group delay difference facilitates the position of an external perturbation along the length of the multicore optical fiber.

An optical fiber can include a core comprising silica co-doped with nitrogen and chlorine and an outer cladding surrounding the core. In some aspects, the core can be characterized by an annealing temperature of less than or equal to about 1150° C. and/or the core can include a relative refractive index Δ.sub.core in a range of from about 0.15% to about 0.45%.

A polarization-maintaining multi-core fiber includes a plurality of fiber core areas and a main outer cladding. The fiber core areas include one central fiber core area, and two or more than two outer fiber core areas equidistantly and uniformly arranged around the central fiber core area that is a polarization-maintaining fiber core area. Each outer fiber core area includes a fiber core and an inner cladding surrounding a core layer. A portion outside the fiber core areas is the main outer cladding. The fiber can greatly enhance spectral efficiency of an optical transmission system, and improve fiber communication capacity. The arrangement of the polarization-maintaining fiber core area provides a waveguide structure with a function of maintaining polarized light, which can be used for transmission of local light.

A laser device includes: a laser unit that outputs laser light; an output end that launches the laser light; a first fusion splice portion; and a second fusion splice portion. In each of the first fusion splice portion and the second fusion splice portion, two multi-mode fibers are fusion-spliced. Each of the two multi-mode fibers include a core through which the laser light propagates and a cladding that surrounds the core. The first fusion splice portion is disposed closer to the laser unit than is the second fusion splice portion. At least a part of the core in the first fusion splice portion contains a dopant that is the same type as a dopant contained in the cladding in the first fusion splice portion for decreasing a refractive index.

In various embodiments, the beam parameter product and/or beam shape of a laser beam is adjusted by coupling the laser beam into an optical fiber of a fiber bundle and directing the laser beam onto one or more in-coupling locations on the input end of the optical fiber. The beam emitted at the output end of the optical fiber may be utilized to process a workpiece.

A method of fabricating an optical fiber, the method including providing a core portion including a doped portion having greater than or equal to 1.6 wt. % of a halide dopant and eliminating seed precursor sites at an exterior surface of the core portion, the seed precursor sites forming seeds in the optical fiber, wherein the eliminating the seed precursor sites includes one or more of: (i) fabricating the core portion by densifying an exterior portion of a silica soot body prior to exposing the silica soot body to the halide dopant, and (ii) exposing the exterior surface of the core portion to a reactive etchant. The method further including forming an optical fiber preform by applying cladding material to the exterior surface of the core portion and drawing the fiber preform into the optical fiber.

An optical fiber according to an embodiment includes a core, a cladding, and a coating layer. At the boundary between the core and the cladding, the local sound velocity decreases in the direction from the core side toward the cladding side. At least in the cladding, the local sound velocity changes continuously in a radial direction. Further, the line width of the Brillouin gain of the light beam guided by the fundamental mode is 60 MHz or more.

A dual-core optical fiber include a first waveguide comprising a first core longitudinal centreline and a second waveguide comprising a second core longitudinal centreline. The first and second waveguides extend through a common cladding through comprising a longitudinal centerline and an outer radius R.sub.4 that is less than or equal to 45 μm. The first core longitudinal centerline and the second core longitudinal centerline are separated from one another by a waveguide-to-waveguide separation distance that is greater than or equal to 30 μm. A cross-talk between the first and second waveguides is less than or equal to −40 dB at 1310 nm, as measured over a length of 100 km of the dual-core optical fiber.