EN
Temperature dependence of the mode dispersion is investigated for commercially available polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) based step-index polymer optical fibers. An analytical expression is proposed describing the thermal variation of the fiber refractive index. This index decreases with increasing temperature as density of the polymer material drops. The study covered the temperature range from -60°C to 100°C. Results show that the modal dispersion decreases and the bandwidth increases with rising temperature.