Understand the wavelengths of 850nm, 1310nm and 1550nm in optical fiber

Light is defined by its wavelength, and in fiber optic communications , the light used is in the infrared region, where the wavelength of light is greater than that of visible light. In optical fiber communication, the typical wavelength is 800 to 1600nm, and the most commonly used wavelengths are 850nm, 1310nm and 1550nm.

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When fluxlight selects the transmission wavelength, it mainly considers fiber loss and scattering. The goal is to transmit the most data with the least fiber loss over the longest distance. The loss of signal strength during transmission is attenuation. The attenuation is related to the length of the waveform, the longer the waveform, the smaller the attenuation. The light used in the fiber has a longer wavelength at 850, 1310, 1550nm, so the attenuation of the fiber is less, which also results in less fiber loss. And these three wavelengths have almost zero absorption, which are most suitable for transmission in optical fibers as available light sources.

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In optical fiber communication, optical fiber can be divided into single-mode and multi-mode. The 850nm wavelength region is usually a multi-mode optical fiber communication method, 1550nm is a single-mode, and 1310nm has two types of single-mode and multi-mode. Referring to ITU-T, the attenuation of 1310nm is recommended to be ≤0.4dB/km, and the attenuation of 1550nm is ≤0.3dB/km. And the loss at 850nm is 2.5dB/km. Fiber loss generally decreases as the wavelength increases. The center wavelength of 1550 nm around the C-band (1525-1565nm) is usually called the zero loss window, which means that the attenuation of the quartz fiber is the smallest at this wavelength.

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