New Measurement Platform for High Performance, Laser-Optimized Multimode Optical Fibers
High performance, laser-optimized multimode fibers are essential for enabling high-speed data transmission in today’s data center and other short distance optical networks. Multimode fiber manufacturers ensure this performance by measuring the bandwidth and/or single-mode launch differential mode delay (SMLDMD) of every spool of fiber that they produce. The new Photon Kinetics 2550 Fiber Analysis System performs both of these critical multimode fiber characterizations on a new, compact optical platform which features an intuitive Windows™ user interface powered by the PKSL script-based programming language that enables both unprecedented ease-of-use and measurement
sequence flexibility.
The 2550 is the most recent addition to the PKSL measurement system family that already includes the 2300 and 2880 Fiber Analysis Systems, and it replaces the 2500 Fiber Analysis System which has served as Photon Kinetics’ flagship multimode fiber characterization platform for over 25 years. Unlike the 2500, a multi-parameter test system that performed a wide range of multimode fiber measurements including spectral loss, bandwidth, DMD, numerical aperture and core diameter as well as several single-mode measurements, the 2550’s entirely new optical hardware and software platform was designed specifically for high performance multimode fiber bandwidth and differential mode delay measurements.
A variety of 2550 configurations are available offering both 850 and 1300 nm time-domain bandwidth, plus 850 nm and/or 953 nm single-mode launch DMD. Ultra-high resolution DMD configurations that utilize one or more Ti:Sapphire lasers at 850 and/or 953 nm, rather than diode lasers, are also available for applications requiring temporal resolution better than 35 ps. This measurement performance and configurability, plus its powerful PKSL operating software will make the 2550 the new industry-standard for characterizing all multimode fiber types, especially laser-optimized OM3, OM4 and wideband OM5
fibers.
Since the new 2550 and previously introduced 2300 Fiber Analysis Systems and options effectively replace all of the multimode fiber measurement capability provided by the 2500 Fiber Analysis System, current 2500 customers should be aware that as of June 28, 2019 the 2500 enters PK’s standard 5-year support period for discontinued products.