Laser-based methods of stripping fiber optic cables

A method of stripping a tight-buffered fiber optic cable having a protective cover—and a central axis and that contains an optical fiber, comprising:

• moving a first focused, infrared laser beam axially along a section of the protective cover of the fiber optic cable to form a substantially axial first groove in the protective cover, wherein the first groove has a corresponding first bottom-most portion separated from a low-friction layer by a first thin portion of the protective outer cover;
• breaking the first thin portion to form a first split protective cover section;
• and
• removing the first split protective cover section from the cable.

A method of stripping a portion of a protective cover from a fiber optic cable having an outside diameter (DC), a central axis, and at least one optical fiber, comprising:

• forming first and second infrared laser beams having respective first and second spot sizes;
• moving the first and second focused laser beams over the protective cover, relative to the fiber optic cable, generally along the central axis and at a substantially different portion of the protective cover to form corresponding first and second grooves in the protective cover that do not reach the at least one optical fiber;
• opening the protective cover at the first and second grooves to form first and second split protective cover sections;
• and
• peeling the first and second split protective cover sections away from the cable central axis.