Experimental Characterization of the Transmission Properties of Large-Core Graded-Index PMMA Fibers

Large-core polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) graded-index plastic optical fibers (OI-POFs) share the advantages of standard step-index PMMA fibers (SI-POFs) but permit higher transmission rates at longer link distances. However, the precise determination of their capacity limits has been prevented by the lack of optoelectronic devices with the required characteristics. In this work, we carry out an experimental characterization of the transmission properties of PMMA GI-POF, using a high bandwidth photo detector to measure the frequency response of the fiber as a function of its length. Measurements of intensity distribution, frequency response and Bit-Error-Rate (BER) for different fiber lengths provide a quantitative assessment of the potential of large-core OI-POFs. Moreover, these measurements are indispensable to understand their behavior in order to postulate realistic models and to make accurate assessments of their applicability in different scenarios.