Corning Cable Systems

Yan Hua

Elli Makrides-Saravanos

Ming-Jun Li

Costas Saravanos

An airline (AL) optical fiber ('AL fiber') that has an AL region with airlines, with the AL region arranged relative to the fiber core so as to make the fiber bend insensitive. The AL region is capable of supporting one or more higher-order optical modes. One method of reducing multipath interference (MPI) includes accessing a section of the AL fiber and closing at least one of the airlines in the section. This serves to attenuate one or more higher-order modes, which reduces MPI. In one example, the AL fiber has an end section wherein the airlines are filled with a blocking material. An example blocking material is a curable adhesive that is wicked into the airlines via capillary action and then cured when the adhesive reaches a certain depth from the fiber end. In another example, the blocking material is formed by heating the AL fiber section to cause the section to melt and block the airlines, so that the melted AL fiber serves as the blocking material. The AL fiber with reduced MPI is particularly useful as a 'jump' fiber, whose length is too short to rely on attenuating higher-order modes via a cable cut-off wavelength.

Airline optical fiber with reduced multipath interference and methods of forming same

A fiber optic splitter package and method are provided for protecting a fiber optic splitter assembly while preventing adverse affects from temperature cycling. The fiber optic splitter package includes a housing, a fiber optic splitter assembly, and a flexible retainer member that holds the fiber optic splitter assembly in the housing. The flexible retainer member has a modulus of about 30 to about 80 on a Shore A hardness scale, thereby insulating the fiber optic splitter assembly from stress due to differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion of the housing and the fiber optic splitter assembly.

Growing community of inventors

Ft. Worth, TX, United States of America

Yan Hua