
85Optical Fibers: Signal Attenuation and Dispersion
3.8 Concluding Remarks
The attenuation and dispersion of optical signals transmitted through silica optical
bers
a
re
d
escribed.
A
ttenuation
c
an
b
e
r
educed
b
y
u
sing
t
he
o
ptical
w
avelength
i
n
t
he
l
onger
w
avelength
r
ange.
F
or
e
xample,
f
or
s
ilica
ber
t
he
p
referred
w
avelength
i
s
a
t
1
.55
μm
.
Ho
wever,
n
atural
f
orces
a
re
n
ot
k
ind
t
o
u
s
a
nd
a d
ispersion
f
actor
o
f
a
bout
1
7
p
s/(nm
· k
m)
g
enerates
p
ulse
b
roadening
f
or
s
ignals
t
ransmitted
a
t
t
his
w
avelength
in a circular ber.
Longer
w
avelength
c
arriers
c
an
b
e
u
sed
i
n
t
he
m
id-infrared
r
ange
o
f
a
bout
2.
5–5
μm
.
A
t
t
his
w
avelength
r
ange,
d
ifferent ...