Patent ID: 7310974

Claim:
A method for producing twisted optical fiber having reduced polarization mode dispersion (PMD) comprising the steps of: a) drawing an optical fiber from an optical fiber preform, wherein the preform has a core ovality that is at max about 3%; b) coating the optical fiber with acrylic polymer; c) twisting the coated optical fiber with a pair of spinning wheels and d) cabling he coated optical fiber to form a cabled fiber; wherein the step of twisting the coated optical fiber comprises spinning the coated optical fiber according to a spin function, wherein the spin function comprises a plurality of recipes, each of the recipes comprising a plurality of spins/meter in a clockwise direction, a plurality of spins/meter in a counterclockwise direction, a spin length in the clockwise direction, a swivel length in the counterclockwise direction, optionally a straight length, a plurality of repeat cycles and a total length for the repeat cycles, said recipes being selected such that the cabled fiber formed from the coated optical fiber twisted in step (c) has a polarization mode dispersion as low as less than about 0.3-ps/√km.