March 4, 2025
Fujikura Ltd.
Fujikura Ltd. (Director, President and CEO: Okada Naoki) has jointly developed "TitaniaBend PANDA PM Fiber *1" with Corning Incorporated *2 of the United States, which is compatible with next-generation optical transceivers capable of transmitting information at speeds of 800 Gbit/s or more, and will begin shipping samples of the product from fiscal year 2025.
～Product strong point / feature～
Compared to conventional products, bending loss when subjected to severe bending is reduced by up to approximately 90%.
-Optcal Fiber design that achieves single-mode operation even at short lengths.
- By providing a titanium-doped layer on the glass surface of Optcal Fiber, mechanical reliability is improved even in small bending environments.
As AI applications rapidly increase, faster and larger capacity optical communications are required. Optical transceivers are used in the optical communications networks required for high-speed, large-capacity communications to convert electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa. In recent years, efforts have been made to integrate and miniaturize optical transceivers in order to keep up with the increase in communications traffic. The polarization-maintaining Optcal Fiber (PANDA fiber) used in optical transceivers must be housed in a limited space, and therefore a smaller allowable bending radius is required.
"TitaniaBend PANDA PM Fiber" employs Optcal Fiber design that achieves single-mode operation even at short lengths. In addition, by providing a titanium-doped layer on the glass surface of Optcal Fiber, it achieves both optical properties and mechanical reliability in small-diameter bending environments.
It can also withstand severe bending conditions with a bending radius of 5 mm or less, reducing bending loss when subjected to tight bending by up to approximately 90% compared to conventional products.
Figure: Cross-sectional structure of PANDA Fiber
In collaboration with Corning, Furukawa Electric announced "TitaniaBend PANDA PM Fiber" as an optimal solution for next-generation optical transceivers at SPIE Photonics West 2025,*3 held in San Francisco, USA from January 25 to 30, 2025.
We will continue to develop high-quality products in order to realize an advanced information society.
*1 PANDA PM Fiber
Optcal Fiber is designed to have a large birefringence in order to maintain the polarization state of light. PANDA is an abbreviation for Polarization maintaining AND Absorption reducing fiber, and PM is an acronym for Polarization Maintaining.
*2 Corning
Headquartered in Corning, New York, USA, the company is a global leader in materials science and the world's leading manufacturer of Optcal Fiber.
*3 SPIE Photonics West 2025
SPIE is an international society related to optics established in the United States in 1955, and SPIE is an acronym for Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.
Photonics West is a large-scale exhibition held annually by SPIE, with over 1,000 exhibitors from the optics-related industry, including optical products and laser equipment.
