Polarization-maintaining optical fibers with low dispersion over a wide spectral range

The total dispersion characteristics of the doubly clad Panda (or bow-tie) fibers have been investigated. It is shown that the contribution of the photoelastic effect to the total dispersion becomes of the order of several psec/km x nm in the 1.5-1.7-microm wavelength region. By careful adjustment of the cutoff wavelength, the total dispersion is reduced to within +/- 1 psec/km x nm over the 1.38-1.70-microm wavelength region for the HE(11)(x) mode and 1.38-1.68 microm for the HE(11)(y) mode, respectively.