Experimental Investigation of Attenuation and Chromatic Dispersion in Single-Mode Optical Fiber under Varying Environmental Conditions
Keywords:
Single-mode optical fiber, Attenuation, Chromatic dispersion, Environmental effects, Optical communication, OTDR, Temperature variationAbstract
This study presents an experimental investigation of attenuation and chromatic dispersion in single-mode optical fiber under varying environmental conditions, including temperature fluctuations and mechanical bending. The objective is to evaluate how these external factors influence signal degradation and overall transmission performance in modern optical communication systems. A dual-wavelength laser source operating at 1310 nm and 1550 nm was employed to transmit optical signals through a 10 km spool of standard Single-Mode Fiber (SMF-28). The fiber was subjected to controlled temperature variations within a programmable chamber and mechanical stress using a precision bending platform. Attenuation was measured using an optical power meter, while chromatic dispersion and signal integrity were analyzed using an Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (OTDR). In addition, Bit Error Rate (BER) and eye diagram analyses were conducted to assess system-level performance. The experimental results indicate that attenuation increases with rising temperature and decreasing bending radius due to enhanced scattering and macro-bending losses. Chromatic dispersion was found to be wavelength-dependent, with minimum dispersion near 1310 nm and higher dispersion at 1550 nm. Furthermore, BER analysis revealed significant degradation in signal quality with increasing transmission distance, which was corroborated by progressive eye diagram closure. Overall, the findings highlight the critical impact of environmental conditions on fiber optic performance and emphasize the need for effective system design, proper installation practices, and compensation techniques to ensure reliable high-speed optical communication.
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