Patent ID: 8432539

Claim:
A graded-index multimode optical fiber, comprising: a core and a surrounding cladding, the core defining an optical axis; wherein the optical fiber possesses a nominal refractive index profile described by the relationship: n ⁡ ( r ) = n 0 ⁢ 1 - 2 ⁢ Δ ⁡ ( r a ) α where, n 0 is the refractive index on the optical fiber's optical axis; r is the radial distance from the optical fiber's optical axis; a is the radius of the optical fiber's core; Δ is a non-dimensional parameter indicative of an index difference between the optical fiber's core and the optical fiber's cladding; and α is a non-dimensional parameter indicative of the shape of the index profile; and wherein the optical fiber possesses, as measured at a wavelength 850 nanometers±10 nanometers, a −3 dB bandwidth as a function of radial offset from the optical fiber's optical axis that is greater than or equal to 6000 MHz·km for all radial-offset values between 0 and R 1 , where R 1 is about 70 percent of the radius of the optical fiber's core.