Compact optical fiber cleaving apparatus and methods using a microchip laser system
AssigneeCorning Optical Communications LLC
InventorQi Wu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical fiber cleaving apparatus that employs a microchip laser system for cleaving an optical fiber is disclosed. The microchip laser system is operably arranged relative to an optical system that receives an initial laser beam and forms a focused laser beam that includes a focus spot. The focus spot is directed to the outer surface of the optical fiber to create an optical damage zone that includes at least one micro-crack necessary for performing the cleaving operation. Methods of aligning the optical fiber to the focus spot and performing the cleaving operation using the cleaving apparatus are also disclosed.
Claims22
An optical fiber cleaving apparatus for cleaving an optical fiber that has an optical damage threshold irradiance, comprising:
- an optical fiber holder configured to hold a bare fiber section of the optical fiber;
- a microchip laser system configured to generate an initial laser beam having a wavelength in the range from 266 nanometers (nm) to 1600 nm, and optical pulses with a pulse duration between 200 ns and 200 ps and a pulse rate in the range from 1 Hz to 1 MHz;
- and
- an optical system configured to receive the initial laser beam and form therefrom a focused laser beam having a numerical aperture NA in the range 0.1≤NA≤0.6 and a focus spot that can be made incident upon the bare fiber section, the focus spot having a peak optical irradiance that exceeds the optical damage threshold irradiance in order to form a micro-crack in an optical damage zone within the bare fiber section.
An optical fiber cleaving apparatus for cleaving an optical fiber that has an optical damage threshold irradiance, comprising:
- an optical fiber holder configured to hold a bare fiber section of the optical fiber;
- a microchip laser system comprising a pump laser operably arranged relative to a microchip laser, the microchip laser system operably supported by an optoelectronic package and configured to generate an initial pulsed laser beam;
- wherein the microchip laser system is operably supported in an optoelectronic package having dimensions Lx, Ly and Lz, wherein Lx is in the range from 20 mm to 50 mm, Ly is in the range from 10 mm to 30 mm and Lz is in the range from 20 mm to 100 mm;
- and
- an optical system configured to receive the initial laser beam and form therefrom a focused laser beam and a focus spot that can be made incident upon the bare fiber section, the focus spot having a peak optical irradiance that exceeds the optical damage threshold irradiance in order to form a micro-crack in an optical damage zone within the bare fiber section.
A method of cleaving an optical fiber having a bare fiber section with an outer surface, a diameter D, and an optical damage threshold irradiance, comprising:
- generating from a microchip laser system an initial laser beam having a wavelength in the range from 266 nanometers (nm) to 1600 nm and optical pulses with a pulse duration between 200 ns and 200 ps and a pulse rate in the range from 1 Hz to 1 MHz;
- forming from the initial laser beam a focused laser beam with a focus spot having an optical irradiance that exceeds the optical damage threshold irradiance;
- and
- irradiating the bare fiber section with the focused laser beam to form an optical damage zone in the bare fiber section, wherein the optical damage zone includes at least one micro-crack having a length LC in the range of a threshold length LCT, wherein the threshold length LCT is in the range of (0.04)·D≤LCT≤(0.5)·D and wherein the threshold length LCT is the threshold length of the micro-crack needed to perform a smooth cleaving operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.