Bell Telephone Laboratories

Other

Arthur R Tynes

Paul H Schmidt

Klaus Jurgen Bachmann

Arthur D Pearson

Eric W Mies

Suzanne Rose Nagel

High strength optical fiber splices are obtained using an inert flowing gas to remove frit and discoloration produced during a fusing process. The fibers being spliced are protected from chemical and particulate contamination by preventing such contaminants from coming into contact with the exposed fiber ends as can occur when the fiber end is place into a solvent to soften the jacket prior to stripping. Finally, a post fusion heat treating step is added after the fibers have been spliced to remove any surface damage that may have been produced.

Method and apparatus for forming high strength splices in optical fibers

Accurate simultaneous alignment and splicing of one or more pairs of optical fibers is achieved by the use of a glass coupler sleeve. One or more fiber holding channels are provided by the sleeve, each holding channel having at least one vertex and being configured to slidingly accept the optical fibers. The addition of a longitudinal slot to the coupler provides for the collapse of the coupler around the aligned fibers under predetermined heat and pressure, thereby providing permanent retention without the use of a bonding material.

Apparatus and method of splicing optical fibers

Glass fiber optical-waveguides consisting of a metal oxide-silicate glass core and silica cladding are produced according to the invention by means of a metal evaporation technique. An evacuated fused silica tube containing an evaporated metal deposit is heated to temperatures sufficient to form a uniform metal silicide layer on its inner surface. This layer is then oxidized and reacted with the silica tubing at elevated temperatures to form a metal oxide-silica glass layer. The tube is then collapsed to give a solid rod preform with a metal oxide-silica glass core. Fibers drawn from such preforms exhibit a graded refractive index profile and low loss. The details of the fabrication technique are described, and a representative loss spectrum is presented.

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Red Bank, NJ, United States of America

Arthur R Tynes