At its most basic, an optical fiber is a glass thread, which can transmit messages modulated onto light waves. There are 2 main types of optical fibers, single-mode (SM) fiber, which has only one path, through a much smaller core, and multimode fiber, which has a large core and allows for multiple paths through the fiber.
FIBER IS THE NETWORK
Lightera is a world-leader in the design and manufacture of single-mode optical fiber for applications including transcontinental, regional, metropolitan, home/business access, and in-building fiber optic systems.
The Lightera Single-mode Optical Fiber Selection Guide for terrestrial applications is a quick reference guide for a general understanding of Lightera single-mode fiber types and applications. This guide describes several families of Lightera fiber and provides recommendations for single-mode fibers used in Outside Plant (OSP) as well as Indoor (Premises, Enterprise) applications.
Selecting the right fiber for your application can help lower system costs. Characteristics such as lower loss, larger effective area, optimized dispersion, and tight bend performance can provide economic benefits compared to using a standard G.652D single-mode fiber. Please contact Lightera for a more thorough explanation of the various fiber value propositions to assist in the selection process.
The Lightera single-mode product portfolio single-mode product portfolio includes the following families of optical fiber:
TeraWave® – ITU-T G.654 long haul fiber with an optimized large effective area designed especially to support coherent systems.
TrueWave® – ITU-T G.655 and/or G.656 Non-Zero Dispersion fibers (NZDF) that have optimum chromatic dispersion characteristics to simplify and reduce the cost of dispersion compensation.
AllWave® – ITU-T G.652.D standard single-mode fibers. AllWave Zero Water Peak (ZWP) Fibers provide seamless splicing and can be used everywhere from long haul to shorter reach in-building applications. Some of these fibers are also G.657 compliant.
AllWave FLEX and EZ-Bend® are ITU-T G.657 Bend Insensitive single-mode fibers.
Lightera is also a world-leader in the design and manufacture of multimode optical fibers. Our product portfolio offers high bandwidth OM3, OM4, and OM5 graded-index multimode optical fibers designed to support a wide range of short-reach, VCSEL based LAN, Central Office, and Data Center applications. Our LaserWave® laser-optimized multimode fibers cost-effectively support enterprise network speeds up to 400Gb/s and beyond. LaserWave WideBand (OM5) fiber supports the latest short wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM) applications developed to maximize multimode fiber’s data carrying capacity. DMD-controlled to provide optimum performance with laser sources, LaserWave optical fiber is designed and manufactured with a carefully controlled refractive index profile to achieve low attenuation, high bandwidth and longer link distances. The superior geometry of Lightera multimode fiber results in easier cabling and better connector and transceiver coupling performance.
Further improvements to LaserWave multimode fibers have allowed Lightera to be first to market with multimode Rollable Ribbon cable technologies. Improvements to the microbend sensitivity of LaserWave fiber have unlocked Multimode Rollable Ribbon Solutions for high-density multi-fiber interconnects (E.g., 400G SR4, 800G SR8). Colored optical fibers are partially bonded into a flexible ribbon that is rolled within ultra-compact cables and then easily breaks-out into individual fibers or pairs for termination.
Compact and lightweight R-Pack™ Backbone Fiber Optic Cables are plenum (12-72 fiber) or dual rated (Riser/CPR 12-144 fiber) for use in demanding building applications.
Higher fiber counts are available in AccuRiser I/O Dual-Rated Fiber Optic Cables (Riser and LSZH/CPR 144-864 fibers). AccuRiser cables simplify transitions from outdoor to indoor use and feature a dual flame rating for universal use throughout much of the world.
Lightera, through its predecessor companies, has been designing and manufacturing specialty fibers since the mid 1970’s and today offers a broad range of standard and custom versions. The specialty product range includes multimode (MM) and single-mode (SM) with a variety of core and cladding sizes, operating wavelengths, numerical apertures (NA), and coatings. These features optimize fiber performance in a specific application and are often designed in response to a customer’s application.
Our HCS®, HCXtreme®, GiHCS®, and PYROCOAT® brand optical fiber technologies are well known across industries. Our specialty single-mode fibers include polarization maintaining, erbium-doped , cladding-pumped, and Large Mode Area doped with various rare earth elements such as Erbium, Ytterbium, and Erbium/Ytterbium. Lightera is an industry leader in optical fiber design or modification for a variety of industries including medical, industrial communications, avionics, and defense as well as for various sensing applications.
From hyperscale data centers to harsh industrial environments, Lightera’s family of optical fibers delivers unmatched performance, precision, and versatility. Whether you’re deploying ultra-compact RollR® microcables, leveraging multicore innovations like AllWave® FLEX 4X for next-gen bandwidth, or integrating specialty fibers for aerospace, sensing, or medical applications—Lightera empowers your network to go further, faster, and smarter.
