Systems and methods for scribing and cleaving an optical fiber held by a ferrule

A method of cleaving a bare fiber section of an optical fiber using a scribing medium having a length, a radial dimension, and an outer surface with a top-side location and a near-side location, comprising:

• a) supporting the bare fiber section in a bore of a ferrule that includes a front end having a front-end surface, with the bare fiber section extending beyond the front end of the ferrule and having an outer surface with a lower portion that in combination with the front-end surface defines a wedge location;
• b) disposing the scribing medium in the wedge location such that the top-side location is in contact with the lower portion of the bare fiber section and the near-side location is in contact with the front-end surface of the ferrule, wherein the near-side location is smooth and the top-side location includes an abrasive feature that runs along the length of the scribing medium;
• c) moving the scribing medium under tension relative to the bare fiber section so that the abrasive feature defines a scribe mark in the lower portion of the bare fiber section at a distance from the front-end surface that is substantially equal to the radial dimension of the scribing medium, and wherein the smooth near-side surface does not substantially damage the front-end surface;
• and
• d) cleaving the bare fiber section at the scribe mark.

A system for forming a scribe mark in at least one bare fiber section of at least one optical fiber, comprising:

• a ferrule having at least one bore and a front end that defines a front-end surface, the at least one bore being configured to support the at least one optical fiber with the at least one bare fiber section extending beyond the ferrule front end;
• a scribing medium having a radial dimension and an outer surface with a top-side location that includes an abrasive feature and a near-side location that is smooth, wherein the scribing medium is disposed with the near-side location in contact with the front-end surface and the abrasive feature in contact with a lower portion of the at least one bare fiber section, and wherein the scribing medium comprises a scribing wire;
• and
• a support fixture that movably supports the scribing medium and that causes the scribing medium to move relative to the at least one bare fiber section to form the scribe mark in the lower portion of the at least one bare fiber section at a distance from the front-end surface that is substantially equal to the radial dimension of the scribing medium.