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US 9,815,731 B1Granted
Tapered core fiber manufacturing methods
AssigneenLIGHT, Inc.
InventorsJoona Koponen, Laeticia Petit, Petteri Väinänen
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Abstract
Tapered core fibers are produced using tapered core rods that can be etched or ground so that a fiber cladding has a constant diameter. The tapered core can be an actively doped core, or a passive core. One or more sleeving tubes can be collapsed onto a tapered core rod and exterior portions of the collapsed sleeving tubes can be ground to provide a constant cladding diameter in a fiber drawn from the preform.
Claims10
A method, comprising:
- situating a core tube within a cladding tube;
- selecting:
- a first feed rate for the core tube and a second feed rate for the cladding tube, and
- a first pressure to be applied to a volume defined by a core tube interior, wherein the first pressure is applied independently of the first feed rate and the second feed rate;
- and
- drawing the core tube and the cladding tube so as to form an optical fiber, wherein:
- at least one of the first feed rate, the second feed rate or the first pressure is selected so that the core tube and cladding are drawn so that the optical fiber has a tapered core;
- the selected first pressure is a time-varying pressure that is applied to the core tube interior during the drawing;
- and
- at least one of a fiber core diameter and a fiber cladding diameter is at least partially determined by the first feed rate, the second feed rate, or the first pressure.
7 more elements
A method, comprising:
- situating a core tube within a cladding tube;
- selecting:
- a first feed rate for the core tube and a second feed rate for the cladding tube, and
- a first pressure to be applied to a volume defined by a cladding tube interior, wherein the first pressure is applied independently of the first feed rate and the second feed rate;
- drawing the core tube and the cladding tube so as to form an optical fiber, wherein at least one of a fiber core diameter and a fiber cladding diameter is at least partially determined by the first feed rate, the second feed rate, or the first pressure;
- situating at least one capillary tube within the cladding tube, and drawing the core tube, the capillary tube, and the cladding tube to produce the optical fiber;
- applying a second pressure to an interior volume of the capillary tube so that the optical fiber has a tapered core and a constant cladding diameter;
- and
- applying a third pressure to a volume defined by a core tube interior.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.