In fiber -optic communication, a single-mode optical fiber (SMF) is an optical fiber designed to carry light only directly down the fiber - the transverse mode. The light is “guided” down the center of the fiber called the “core”. Thorlabs' SM3fiber consists of an undope pure silica core surrounded by a depresse fluorine-doped cladding.
The core and cladding are . Since these fibers do not contain germania ( GeO2), which causes electronic defects and color centers associated with the Ge -O bon the primary cause of photodarkening is greatly reduce. A peculiar property of single-mode fibers is that the transverse intensity profile at the fiber output has a fixed shape, which is independent of the launch conditions and the spatial properties of the injected light, assuming that no cladding modes can carry substantial power to the fiber end.
The launch conditions only influence. We offer a wide portfolio of Select-Cut-Off and polarization maintaining singlemode fibers for a wide wavelength range from UV to IR. Singlemode special fibers are the correct choice for current and future applications in data transmission, optical communications, sensorics and high-power laser transmission.