BEAVERTON, Ore. -- With its introduction of the 8000 OTDR, Photon Kinetics, the world leader in test solutions for optical fiber and cable manufacturing, made it possible to perform highly accurate, multi-wavelength OTDR measurements faster than ever before. The 8000’s single-mode wavelength offerings not only included the standard transmission wavelengths of 1310, 1550 and 1625 nm, but also two wavelengths adjacent to the 1383 nm water peak (1360 and 1410 nm), which enabled manufacturers to perform spectral attenuation modeling in accordance with IEC, ITU and TIA standards. Today, Photon Kinetics announces the availability of new measurement capability for the 8000 OTDR directly on the 1383 nm water peak, as well as capability at several other important new wavelengths, none of which have ever been offered in any commercial OTDR.

Interest in OTDR measurements at the water peak began several years ago with the introduction of “low water” single-mode fibers - fibers that exhibited exceptionally low attenuation throughout the 1383 nm water peak region. As the popularity of these fibers increased due to applications like CWDM, it became more important to be able to verify fiber attenuation directly on the water peak and this led to the development 1383 nm capability for the 8000 OTDR. With “low water” versions of unshifted single-mode fibers set to replace the previous generation of “high water” fibers as the standard unshifted single-mode design for most manufacturers, and with specifications having been established in IEC, ITU and TIA for 1383 nm attenuation, the requirement for 1383 nm testing is expected to become even more important.

The other new wavelengths now being offered in the Photon Kinetics 8000 OTDR include: 1064, 1240, and 1450 nm. These wavelengths are of particular interest to the producers of specialty fibers and telecom researchers for applications such as the development of new rare earth doped fiber designs for fiber amplifiers, and the validation of standard fibers for new applications including Raman amplification.

With the availability of these new measurement capabilities, the 8000 OTDR reaffirms its position, not only as the industry’s highest performance OTDR with the most comprehensive analysis capability, but also as the most versatile OTDR platform available. Its unique, production-oriented design facilitates not only hardware modifications such as those mentioned above, but software modifications as well, making it possible to easily incorporate new optical components or analysis capability, as our customers require.

Photon Kinetics Inc.