Product Release: FLS-H Automated full length station for CD, PMD and OTDR measurements of HCF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Photon Kinetics Introduces Industry’s First Automated Test Station for Hollow-Core Fiber Production at ECOC 2026

Beaverton, Oregon – September 15, 2026 – Photon Kinetics today announced that it will be demonstrating the FLS-H Full-Length Station, the industry’s first automated test system designed for production-length hollow-core fiber (HCF) at the ECOC Exhibition, September 21–23, 2026, in Málaga, Spain. 

As HCF moves from laboratory prototypes to commercial production, manufacturers are facing unique testing challenges driven by the fiber’s ultra-low backscatter, high reflections at HCF-SMF couplings, and near-vacuum group index. Traditional instruments and manual methods fall short on both capability and efficiency. The FLS-H solves both of these challenges with two key technologies, both of which will be on display at ECOC 2026:

• The new, HCF-optimized, 85000 Series configuration of the industry-standard 8000 Production OTDR that delivers the high dynamic range and reflection mitigation capability required for accurate characterization of production-length HCF spools, including bi-directional analysis of attenuation, attenuation uniformity, defects and fiber length.
• The 1050F Fiber Aligner that features fully-automated alignment plus an integrated  launch buffer optimized for low-loss, low-reflectance coupling to HCF cores—eliminating time-consuming fusion or manual splicing and enabling fully automated testing.

“The FLS-H gives HCF manufacturers the first complete, production-ready solution for full-length characterization,” said Chris Luetjen, Director of Product at Photon Kinetics. “It combines our highest-performing OTDR with our latest automated alignment product that has been purpose-built for hollow-core fiber. We’ll also be demonstrating our new 2920 Interferometric PMD System, which is also part of the FLS-H test suite along with the 2880 Chromatic Dispersion System.”

Photon Kinetics invites ECOC attendees to visit Stand No. 1275 to see the FLS-H in action and discuss other soon to be released products that will help to accelerate HCF production scale-up.

About Photon Kinetics
Photon Kinetics is the global leader in production test solutions for optical fiber and cable manufacturing. Its innovative test platforms have enabled the optical fiber and cable industry’s highest-volume manufacturers for more than four decades.

Media Contact
Dave Kritler, Marketing Manager
Photon Kinetics, Inc.
[email protected]
www.pkinetics.com