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What is Macrobending?
Macrobending refers to the optical losses caused by a large-scale, intentional or unintentional bend in an optical fiber. When a fiber is bent beyond its specified bend radius, part of the guided optical field can escape from the core, resulting in increased attenuation.
Macrobending is an important consideration when designing compact fiber systems or routing fibers in applications where space is limited.
HOW Macrobending Works
The sensitivity to macrobending depends on the fiber design, wavelength, mode field diameter, and bend radius. Fibers can be engineered with improved bend resistance to maintain low losses even when tightly routed.
Fiber bending
Bending the fiber changes the propagation conditions of the guided optical mode.
Mode leakage
When the bend radius becomes sufficiently small, part of the optical field is no longer confined within the fiber and radiates outward.
Optical loss
The escaped light reduces the transmitted optical power, producing additional attenuation known as macrobending loss.
