Developments in optical waveguide fabrication by the outside vapor deposition process

Improvements in optical fiber fabrication made over the last two years using the outside vapor deposition (OVD) process are reported. Advances have been made in the areas of optical and mechanical performance for existing products, dopant changes, and single-mode fiber designs. A multimode fiber having no P2O5in the core has been demonstrated which also exhibits uniform forward and cutback bandwidth-length dependence and improved resistance to the effects of hydrogen. Data is also presented on a dispersion-shifted single-mode fiber made using the segmented core approach which has recently been put into production.