The specification describes an improved optical fiber design in which the criteria
for high performance in a Raman amplified optical system, such as moderate effective
area, moderate dispersion, low dispersion slope, and selected zero dispersion wavelength,
are simultaneously optimized. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the dispersion
characteristics are deliberately made selectively dependent on the core radius.
This allows manufacturing variability in the dispersion properties, introduced
in the core-making process, to be mitigated during subsequent processing steps.
