dispersion compensating fiber (DCF)
Dispersion Compensating Fiber(DCF) is used for dispersion compensation of conventional optical fibers. If conventional fibers in the 1,550 nm range are used, the occurring positive dispersion must be compensated for longer distances.
The DCF fiber is such a dispersion compensation fiber. It has a negative dispersion of -16 ps/nm/km, which can be used to compensate for the positive dispersion of a conventional fiber with 100 ps/nm/km in a length ratio of 1:6 to 1:7. By using the DCF fiber, conventional fibers can also be used over longer distances.
For dispersion compensation, a DCF fiber is connected to a normal optical fiber. The negative dispersion value of the DCF fiber thus compensates the dispersion of the normal fiber. The disadvantage is that the DCF fiber has a narrower core glass, which attenuates the light.