Spectral Attenuation Measurements of Optical Fiber: Design of an Instrument Based on Pulsed-Light Source

For the measurement of spectral attenuation of optical fibers in the range 800-1600 nm, an instrument based on a halogen-tungsten lamp pulsed at a few Hz has been designed and developed. This approach has shown to have substantial advantages over the usual chopped-light technique. With a low-noise preamplifier (-110 dBm sensitivity), the instrument offers a >40 dB dynamic range of attenuation measurement in monomode fibers, and can operate in both analog and digital mode.