Front end preparation procedure for efficient coupling and improved power handling of light into a multi-mode fiber
AssigneeHughes Electronics Corporation
InventorStanislav I. Ionov
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of front end preparation for efficient coupling of light into a fiber while preventing fiber damage from an incident beam, includes the steps of stripping an end of an outer cladding of the fiber. The step of stripping produces a stripped end of the fiber. The stripped end is then coated with a polymer to produce a polymer coating such that a length of a core of a multi-mode fiber (or an inner cladding of a single-mode double cladding fiber) is bare beyond the polymer coating. Thereby, an extended end of the core or inner cladding is left. For a portion of an incident beam that misses the core or inner cladding, such portion is allowed to diffract from the extended end, while leaving the fiber undamaged.
Claims29
A method for treating a fiber for increased coupling efficiency, said fiber comprising a core, a cladding and a front end, with the method comprising the steps of:
- stripping an end of said cladding to produce a stripped end of said fiber;
- and
- coating a first part of said stripped end with a liquid polymer to fill micro-cracks in said stripped end and to form a solid polymer coating such that said polymer is substantially absent from a second part of said stripped end.
A method of preventing fiber damage from an incident beam, said fiber comprising a front end, an inner cladding and an outer cladding with the method comprising the steps of:
- stripping an end of said outer cladding, said step of stripping producing a stripped end of said fiber;
- and
- coating said stripped end with a liquid polymer, said step of coating filling micro-cracks in said stripped end and producing a solid polymer coating such that said polymer coating is substantially absent from a portion of said stripped end, said portion being immediately adjacent to said front end.
An improved optical fiber comprising:
- a cladding having a cladding edge;
- a solid polymer coating over said cladding edge, said solid polymer coating applied over said cladding edge in liquid form;
- and
- a core within said cladding, said core having an extended end that extends outside of said solid polymer coating, said extended end having micro-cracks filled by said solid polymer coating.
An improved double cladding fiber, comprising:
- an outer cladding having a cladding end;
- a solid polymer coating over said outer cladding end, said solid polymer coating applied over said cladding end in liquid form;
- and
- an inner cladding within said outer cladding, said inner cladding having an exposed end outside of said solid polymer coating and said cladding end of the outer cladding, said exposed end having micro-cracks filled by said solid polymer coating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.