Optical fiber characterization by simultaneous measurement of the transmitted and the refracted near field

An experimental setup is presented which permits, in a routine way for R&D purposes, simultaneous measurement of the transmitted near field at 1300 nm and 1550 nm, and the refracted near field at 820 nm. A new method for the calibration of the refractive index is proposed. The obtained accuracy for the refractive index is dn+or-0.0002. The reproducibility of measurements of geometrical parameters like the mode field diameter, the core and cladding diameters, and concentricity error, is +or-0.1 mu m. Measurements of the mode field as a function of polarization state for four different hi-bi fiber are presented.