The limits of plastic optical fiber for short distance high-speed computer data links

The attenuation and dispersion of commercially available all-plastic step-index optical fiber are the major factors limiting the maximum achievable transmission distance and bit rate; this article explores these limits. Calculations predict that ∼ 500 Mb/s transmission over 100 m of standard 0.47 NA step-index PMMA POF at 650 nm is feasible, and recent experimental results at up to 400 Mb/s are briefly described. The implications of having a lower loss, higher bandwidth POF, for example, perfluorinated, graded-index PMMA, arc discussed. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.