Method of angle fusion splicing silica fiber with low-temperature non-silica fiber
AssigneeNP Photonics, Inc.
InventorsJiafu Wang, Weijiong Li
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Abstract
A low-cost approach is provided for forming a low splice loss, low back reflection loss and mechanically robust angle-fusion splice between a standard silica fiber and a low-temperature non-silica glass fiber. This is accomplished by angle cleaving the silica fiber, square cleaving the non-silica fiber and then asymmetrically heating the fibers to form an angle fusion splice. A matched angle at the end of the non-silica fiber is generated in situ during the splicing process. The tip of the angle-cleaved silica fiber may be polished flat back to the edge of the core to reduce the range of motion of the non-silica fiber during splicing thereby further reducing splice loss and enhancing the mechanical strength of the joint.
Claims26
A method of fusing optical fiber, comprising:
- Providing an angle-cleaved optical fiber formed of a silica glass;
- Providing a square-cleaved optical fiber formed of a non-silica glass;
- Placing the pair of optical fibers in an end-to-end configuration with a small gap separating the fibers;
- and
- Heating and moving the fibers together to form a fused joint.
A method of fusing optical fiber, comprising:
- Providing an angle-cleaved optical fiber formed of a silica glass having a softening temperature Tsi-soft;
- Providing a square-cleaved optical fiber formed of a multi-component glass selected from phosphate, germanate or tellurite having a softening temperature Tmc-soft that is lower than Tsi-soft;
- Placing the pair of optical fibers in an end-to-end configuration with a small gap separating the fibers;
- Asymmetrically heating the fibers to raise the temperature of the angle-cleaved optical fiber (Tsi) and the square-cleaved optical fiber (Tmc) such that Tsi-soft>Tsi>Tmc>Tmc-soft at the gap between the fibers thereby softening only the square-cleaved fiber;
- and
- Moving the fibers together such that the softened square-cleaved optical fiber forms a matched angle to the angle-cleaved optical fiber in situ thereby forming thermal diffusion bonds between the pair of fibers around a fused joint.
A method of fusing optical fiber, comprising:
- Providing an angle-cleaved optical fiber having a core and cladding formed of a silica glass having a softening temperature Tsi-soft;
- Providing a square-cleaved optical fiber having a core and inner cladding formed of a multi-component glass with a softening temperature Tmc-soft and having an outer cladding formed from a different multi-component glass having a softening temperature Toc-soft so that Tmc-soft<Toc-soft<Tsi-soft;
- Placing the pair of optical fibers in an end-to-end configuration with a small gap separating the fibers;
- Asymmetrically heating the fibers to raise the temperature of the angle-cleaved optical fiber (Tsi) and the square-cleaved optical fiber (Tmc) such that Tsi-soft>Tsi>Tmc>Toc-soft at the gap between the fibers thereby softening only the square-cleaved fiber;
- and
- Moving the fibers together such that the softened square-cleaved optical fiber forms a matched angle to the angle-cleaved optical fiber in situ thereby forming thermal diffusion bonds between the pair of fibers around a fused joint.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.