In infrared optical communications, C-band (C for "conventional") refers to the wavelength range 1530–1565 nm, which corresponds to the amplification range of erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs).[1] The C-band is located around the absorption minimum in optical fiber, where the loss reaches values as good as 0.2 dB/km, as well as an atmospheric transmission window (see figures). The C-band is located between the short wavelengths (S) band (1460–1530 nm) and the long wavelengths (L) band (1565–1625 nm). It includes the 50 GHz-spaced DWDM ITU channels 16 (1564.68 nm, 191.6 THz) to 59 (1530.33 nm, 195.9 THz).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Fiber_attenuation.pdf/page1-220px-Fiber_attenuation.pdf.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Atmosphere-transmittance-1450-1650-Cband.svg/220px-Atmosphere-transmittance-1450-1650-Cband.svg.png)
References
edit- ^ Optical Fiber Communications article in rp-photonics' Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology (accessed Nov. 11 2010)