JP2006098499A - Holder for welding optical fibers and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a holder for welding tips of optical fibers by electric discharge, which is characterized in that blue color zirconia ceramics contain ZrO<SB>2</SB>as a major component and contain persistence phosphor, which is prepared by adding an active agent to a cobalt component and aluminate strontium, of 5 to 45 mass% when forming the holder by using the blue color zirconia ceramics. <P>SOLUTION: Raw materials containing the ZrO<SB>2</SB>as a major component and containing Co<SB>3</SB>O<SB>4</SB>of 0.3 to 5 mass%, Al<SB>2</SB>O<SB>3</SB>of 0.2 to 20 mass% and persistence phosphor prepared by adding the active agent to aluminate strontium of 5 to 45 mass% is press-molded and fired in reducing atmosphere under a 1,300 to 1,550°C condition to manufacture the blue color zirconia ceramics used to form the holder. The holder is used for welding the tips of the optical fibers together by electric discharge. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber fusion holder formed of blue-based zirconia ceramics, which positions and holds each optical fiber with high accuracy in order to fusion-bond the tips of optical fibers, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  In recent years, with the increase in the amount of information in the field of optical communication, ribbon fibers in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel and molded with resin or the like are rapidly spreading. Are fusion-bonded.

  In this fusion bonding, as shown in FIG. 1, a discharge groove 4 for disposing a discharge electrode is provided at the center, and a plurality of V shapes are formed on the surface of the convex portion 3 on both sides at a constant pitch. An optical fiber fusion holder 1 (hereinafter, abbreviated as a fusion holder) in which holding grooves 2 are arranged in parallel is used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the fusion bonding method is such that each optical fiber 8 of the pair of ribbon fibers 9 is disposed in the holding grooves 2 of the fusion holder 1 so as to face each other accurately and is pressed by the clamp 7. Thus, after the optical fiber 8 is positioned and held, high-frequency discharge is generated by the discharge electrode, so that the ends of the optical fibers 8 are melted and fusion-bonded.

  In addition, the fusion holder 1 of this type is required to be able to form the holding groove 2 for holding the optical fiber 8 smoothly and with high accuracy, and to have a small change with respect to the heat accompanying the discharge. For this reason, there are zirconia ceramics, alumina ceramics, forsterite ceramics, or those made of glass having excellent insulating properties and high workability. In addition, it is considered that the fusion holding tool is conventionally colored in blue because it is excellent in visibility (see Patent Document 1).

The colored ceramic is a group consisting of at least one selected from the group consisting of Al ₂ O ₃ , TiO ₂ , and SiO ₂ and inorganic pigments such as Pr ₆ O ₁₁ , V ₂ O ₅ , MnO ₂ , and Co ₃ O _4. Sintering aid to which a compound having coloring ability obtained by sintering and pulverizing a mixed powder consisting of at least one selected from the above, ceramic powder such as alumina and zirconia, inevitable impurities and, if necessary, added It is obtained by sintering a raw material powder made of powder (see Patent Document 2).

  In addition, when performing fusion bonding of optical fibers using a fusion holder, fusion work in dark places such as gaps in complex buildings is also increasing, and optical fibers are placed in the holding grooves. Difficulties arise. Therefore, an afterglow phosphor, that is, a phosphor that emits afterglow only after illumination is stopped instead of emitting light (fluorescence) only when illumination is applied is known. However, by using the light emission characteristics of such afterglow phosphors for fusion holders, it is possible to greatly improve the ease of placing optical fibers in the dark, such as improved visibility at night. Can do.

  In general, as the afterglow phosphor, an alkaline earth metal aluminate phosphor having long-time afterglow characteristics is known (see Patent Documents 3 and 4).

  Such an afterglow phosphor is a kind of alumina cement obtained by firing an alkaline earth metal such as magnesium, calcium, strontium or barium and alumina, and thus has a strong hydration property. In general, it is easily decomposed and inferior in light resistance, and has poor durability. Therefore, it is generally used in a form blended with paint or resin.

  In paragraph 0092 of Patent Document 3, it is described that the afterglow phosphor can be mixed with plastic, rubber, glass, or the like, but an example of mixing with ceramics is not described.

Therefore, as a material having specific characteristics using a persistence phosphor as in Patent Document 5 and having improved mechanical strength, wear resistance, water resistance, and light resistance, SiO ₂ , B ₂ O ₃ and Proposals relating to a method for producing an afterglow fluorescent glass ceramic in which an afterglow phosphor is blended with a borosilicate glass containing an alkali metal oxide as a main component, and a paint having an afterglow phosphor as in Patent Document 6 The proposal which specified the specific use which uses for the ceramic surface is disclosed.
JP-A 64-46708 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-123058 JP 7-11250 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-208948 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-101371 JP-A-10-194971

  By the way, when a fusion holder is conventionally used, since the optical fiber is easy to see and eyes are hard to be tired, it is common to color zirconia in blue, but in dark places such as gaps in complex buildings It was difficult to recognize the holding groove of the fusion holding tool, and the workability was not good.

In general, when an afterglow phosphor is used, it is used by blending it with a paint or resin. However, the paint or resin has insufficient durability such as light resistance and wear resistance. It was. Patent Document 5 describes an afterglow fluorescent glass ceramic using a borosilicate glass mainly composed of SiO ₂ , B ₂ O ₃ and an alkali metal oxide as a base material. Glass has a strength of less than 100 MPa because the main component is SiO ₂ , and has a problem in use because chipping is likely to occur in a holding groove or the like due to pressing during clamping. In addition, this afterglow fluorescent glass ceramic is required to have high light transmittance so as not to disturb the light emission characteristics, and opaque ceramic materials such as zirconia are not preferable because they reduce light transmittance. It was.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 6 describes that a paint having afterglow is used on the surface of the ceramic, but the content is that the afterglow phosphor is used on the surface of the ceramic porcelain as glaze. However, when used for sliding applications, there is a problem that surface wear occurs due to long-term use and the afterglow phosphor is peeled off.

  The object of the present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has excellent afterglow and clear light emission characteristics, as well as excellent mechanical strength, wear resistance, water resistance, and weather resistance. It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber fusion holder comprising a blue zirconia ceramic having a bright color tone.

In view of the above problems, the optical fiber fusion jig of the present invention is a holder for positioning and holding each optical fiber on the surface of a blue-based zirconia ceramic in order to fusion-bond the tip ends of the optical fibers by electric discharge. In the optical fiber fusion holder formed with a groove and a discharge groove for disposing the discharge electrode, the blue zirconia ceramic is mainly composed of ZrO ₂ , and an activator is added to the cobalt compound and strontium aluminate. It is characterized by containing an afterglow phosphor of 5 to 45% by mass.

Preferably the cobalt compound is _Co 3 _{O 4,} it is preferable amount of _Co 3 _{O 4} is in the range of 0.3 to 5 wt%.

The blue-based zirconia ceramic contains 0.2 to 20% by mass of Al ₂ O ₃ . In particular, the amount of Al ₂ O ₃ added is preferably in the range of 50 to 600% by mass of the cobalt compound.

Furthermore, the optical fiber fusion jig has a bending strength of 350 MPa or more and a fracture toughness of 4.5 MN / m ^3/2 or more.

According to the method for manufacturing an optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention, ZrO ₂ is a main component, and 0.3 to 5% by mass of Co ₃ O ₄ and 0.2 to 20% by mass of Al ₂ O ₃ are contained. Then, after press-molding the raw material powder blended and pulverized by mixing 5 to 45% by mass of an afterglow phosphor obtained by adding an activator to strontium aluminate having an average particle size of 5 to 30 μm, in a reducing atmosphere A holding groove for positioning and holding an optical fiber and a discharge groove for disposing a discharge electrode are formed in a blue zirconia ceramic obtained by firing at a temperature of 1300 to 1550 ° C. .

According to the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention, since ZrO ₂ is a main component and the afterglow phosphor is formed by adding an activator to a cobalt compound and strontium aluminate, it is excellent. In addition, it is possible to obtain an optical fiber fusion holder that has excellent afterglow and clear light emission characteristics, and has excellent mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, water resistance, and weather resistance.

When Co ₃ O ₄ is used for the cobalt compound contained in the blue-based zirconia ceramics, the persistence emission characteristics can be most exhibited because strontium aluminate can exist stably. Moreover, sufficient coloring is obtained, without impairing the mechanical strength of a zirconia ceramic by making the addition amount into the range of 0.3-5 mass%. Furthermore, by containing 0.2 to 20% by mass of Al ₂ O ₃ in a blue zirconia ceramic, a vivid blue zirconia ceramic optical fiber fusion holder can be obtained due to the effect of developing the blue color of Co ₃ O _4. can get.

In addition, by setting the content of Al ₂ O ₃ in the range of 50 to 600 mass% of Co ₃ O ₄ , it is possible to adjust the color tone vividly while having the high-strength material characteristics of blue zirconia ceramics. Become.

By forming a fusing holder from the blue-based zirconia ceramics obtained in this way, it has afterglow and facilitates the arrangement of optical fiber holding grooves in the dark, such as improved visibility at night. This can greatly improve the thickness. In addition, since the chipping does not occur at the edge of the holding groove due to the characteristics of zirconia ceramics, it can be positioned and held with high accuracy without damaging the optical fiber, so that there is almost no axial misalignment between the optical fibers. Can be joined with high accuracy. In addition, it has the original characteristics of blue zirconia ceramics with a bending strength of 350 MPa or more and a fracture toughness of 4.5 MN / m ^3/2 or more. A fiber fusion holder can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the overall configuration of the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention.

  The optical fiber fusion holder 1 of the present invention has a discharge groove 4 for disposing a discharge electrode (not shown) at the center of the surface of a rectangular plate 5 made of blue zirconia ceramics. In addition, four V-shaped holding grooves 2 for holding the optical fiber are formed in parallel at a constant pitch on the surfaces of the convex portions 3 on both sides thereof.

  The depth of the holding groove 2 formed on the surface of the blue zirconia ceramic is shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber. When pressed by a clamp (not shown), the inner surface of the V-shaped holding groove 2 and the pressing surface of the clamp Thus, the optical fiber can be accurately positioned and held. However, in order to smoothly move the optical fiber to the holding groove 2 without damaging the optical fiber when pressed by a clamp (not shown), the inner surface of the holding groove 2 has a center line average roughness (Ra) of 0.15 μm or less. is there.

  Note that the fusion holder 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a V-shaped holding groove 2 for holding the optical fiber, but there are three other outer peripheries of the optical fiber 8 as shown in FIG. As long as the shape can hold the optical fiber accurately, such as a U-shaped holding groove 2 that is held in FIG. 2 or a curved holding groove 2 that matches the outer peripheral shape of the optical fiber 8 as shown in FIG. good. However, it is preferable that the depth of the holding grooves 2 is shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber.

  Since the blue-based zirconia ceramics have excellent workability and a smooth surface is obtained, the inner surface of the holding groove 2 holding the optical fiber can be made to have a mirror surface or a surface roughness close thereto, and these holding grooves 2 If an optical fiber is placed on the optical fiber, the optical fiber can be positioned and held with high accuracy so that the axes of the optical fibers are positioned on the same straight line. In addition, since the blue-based zirconia ceramics are excellent in electrical insulation, even if a voltage is applied to the discharge electrodes in order to join the ends of the optical fibers, it is difficult for the current to flow through the fusion holder 1, as a result. The predetermined amount of discharge can always be generated stably, and the ends of the optical fibers can be completely fused and joined together.

Blue-based zirconia ceramics are composed of ZrO ₂ as a main component, a cobalt compound, and an afterglow phosphor formed by adding an activator to strontium aluminate. Depending on the selection and the amount of addition, it becomes a base color tone under illumination and an afterglow color after the illumination is stopped, and has long-term afterglow characteristics.

  By using a cobalt compound for the blue-based zirconia ceramics of the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention, strontium aluminate can be stably present in the zirconia ceramics, so that the desired stable blue afterglow can be obtained. In this way, by releasing a stable blue afterglow, it becomes easy to perform a fusion bonding operation using a fusion holder in a dark place.

  In addition, by including an afterglow phosphor using an activator in strontium aluminate of a blue-based zirconia ceramic within a range of 5 to 45% by mass, afterglow can be achieved as desired, and high It can have strength and high toughness characteristics.

  The reason for this range is that when the content of the afterglow phosphor is less than 5% by mass, the desired emission luminance cannot be obtained, and the content of the afterglow phosphor is not sufficient. If it is more than 45% by mass, the emission luminance reaches saturation and the emission luminance does not increase any more, which is uneconomical, and the high strength and high toughness characteristics are significantly reduced. is there.

  In particular, the content of the above-mentioned afterglow phosphor contained in the blue zirconia ceramic is preferably 10 to 45% by mass in order to impart high luminance to the target blue zirconia ceramic. On the other hand, it is preferably 5 to 20% by mass in order to impart mechanical properties, durability and chemical resistance. Therefore, the mechanical characteristics, durability, and chemical resistance can be imparted while maintaining high emission luminance especially by setting the content to 10 to 20% by mass.

  Here, the emission luminance indicates the afterglow emission amount after the illumination irradiation is stopped, and the afterglow luminance after 8 hours under the irradiation condition of stimulating for 20 minutes at a brightness of 400 lux using a D65 standard light source. It is a value measured with a luminance measuring device.

By the way, the ZrO ₂ contained in the blue zirconia ceramics is composed of tetragonal crystals, and is partially stabilized zirconia ceramics containing any one stabilizer of Y ₂ O ₃ , MgO, and CaO (this ceramic is hereinafter referred to as PSZ ceramics). Abbreviated). Its characteristic is that it has high strength and high toughness characteristics. These stabilizers may be blended alone or in combination and in an amount necessary for making PSZ. Further, when formulating a Y ₂ O ₃ alone, in the sintered body, may be added to a content of 2 to 7 mol%. Furthermore, when blending MgO and CaO individually, they may be added so as to have a content ratio of 7 to 13 mol% and 8 to 11 mol%, respectively, in the sintered body. The average particle diameter of the stabilizer is 2 μm or less, preferably 1 μm or less. In the present invention, it is not always necessary to add a stabilizer, and a coprecipitated ZrO ₂ powder to which a predetermined amount of stabilizer has been added may be used. When this powder is used, the stabilizer and ZrO ₂ are more densely packed. In addition, since it is in a uniformly distributed mixed state, it is desirable in that the crystal grain size of the blue zirconia ceramic is made uniform.

The average particle size of the ZrO ₂ powder used for PSZ ceramics should be 0.15 μm or less, preferably 0.06 μm or less, or ZrO ₂ with calcination of zirconium hydroxide (ZrO ₂ .xHO) or the like. It may be such that it becomes a powder. In the case of using this zirconium hydroxide, the primary particles of ZrO ₂ powder become larger as the calcining temperature is increased. Therefore, by changing the calcining temperature in the range of 900 to 1050 ° C., the average particle size of the primary particles becomes 0.02 to A 0.1 μm ZrO ₂ powder may be obtained. Thus, if the average particle size of ZrO ₂ is larger than 0.15 μm, each component of PSZ ceramics is not uniformly dispersed, so that the hardness and toughness characteristics are deteriorated and the dispersion of the afterglow phosphor becomes non-homogeneous, This is not preferable because uneven light emission tends to occur in afterglow.

Furthermore, when the content of the ZrO ₂ powder used in the PSZ ceramic is less than 50% by mass, sintering is difficult and high strength and high toughness characteristics cannot be obtained.

The strontium aluminate used in the present invention is composed of an alkaline earth metal aluminate, specifically, a compound such as SrAl ₂ O ₄ , Sr ₄ Al ₁₄ O ₂₅ , SrAl ₁₂ O _19, etc. At this stage, it may be in any state of powder, liquid or paste.

  Further, the average particle size of strontium aluminate is 1 to 30 μm, preferably 5 to 30 μm. Thereby, when uniformly dispersed in the raw material, excellent fluorescence characteristics can be obtained for the entire PSZ ceramic.

  Examples of the activator include europium and europium-manganese, and the content thereof is 0.001 with respect to 100 mol% of the alkaline earth metal element which is a constituent element of the afterglow fluorescent component. It is contained in a mol% to 10 mol% range.

  Such an afterglow phosphor made of strontium aluminate is obtained by firing at a high temperature of about 1300 ° C., and therefore is very stable at a high temperature around 1300 ° C., and is blue according to the present invention. It becomes suitable as a raw material of what is obtained by high-temperature firing such as zirconia ceramics.

  The firing temperature of ceramics is high temperature firing of 1550 to 1800 ° C. in the case of typical alumina, but PSZ ceramics can be sintered at a low temperature compared to that, and the firing temperature of PSZ ceramics is 1300 to 1550 ° C. By firing within the range, blue zirconia ceramics can be obtained without impairing the afterglow of the afterglow phosphor component.

  In addition, the afterglow phosphor used in the present invention may have any co-activator added together with a predetermined activator as needed. Thus, in the afterglow phosphor in which the co-activator is added to the activator, the light emission characteristics such as the light emission luminance and the light emission wavelength, the stability at high temperature, and the light resistance are further improved.

  The co-activator is selected from the group consisting of lanthanoid elements such as lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, manganese, tin, and bismuth. At least one element selected from the group consisting of 0.001 mol% to 10 mol% with respect to 100 mol% of the alkaline earth metal element that is a constituent element of the phosphorescent fluorescent component. Is done.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention, the fusion holder is made of a blue zirconia ceramic containing an afterglow phosphor made of strontium aluminate to which an activator is added and a cobalt compound. By forming the light emission characteristic, it is possible to use a light emission characteristic that emits afterglow even after the illumination irradiation is stopped, and it is possible to greatly improve the ease of arrangement of the optical fiber in a dark place.

And it is desirable that the cobalt compound used in the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention is Co ₃ O ₄ that can exhibit the afterglow emission characteristics because strontium aluminate can stably exist. Co ₃ O ₄ is a material that is chemically stable and easily available.

Further, the addition amount of Co ₃ O ₄ and 0.3 to 5 wt%, sufficient coloring can be obtained without impairing the mechanical strength of the zirconia ceramics. Moreover, the afterglow fluorescent substance which adds an activator to the strontium aluminate which added amount was 5-45 mass% in the above-mentioned quantity is the quantity which can exist stably enough.

By the way, since the blue zirconia ceramics emits blue color but lacks vividness, blue zirconia ceramics having a vivid color tone can be obtained by adding 0.2 to 20% by mass of Al ₂ O ₃ there. . In particular, when the content of Al ₂ O ₃ is in the range of 50 to 600% by mass of Co ₃ O ₄ , the color tone of blue zirconia ceramics can be vividly adjusted, and the zirconia ceramics have high-strength material characteristics. Can do.

The blue zirconia ceramic used for the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention has a bending strength of 300 MPa or more (preferably 350 MPa or more), a fracture toughness of 3.5 MN / m ^3/2 or more (preferably 4.5 MN / m ^3/2 or more).

  By having such a bending strength and fracture toughness, as an optical fiber fusion holder that fuses and joins optical fibers, there is little occurrence of chipping due to pressing at the time of clamping, and thus a long life can be used. .

  Next, a method for producing the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention will be described.

ZrO ₂ powder, 0.3-5 mass% Co ₃ O ₄ and 0.2-20 mass% Al ₂ O ₃ powder, stabilizers such as Y ₂ O ₃ and afterglow phosphor The raw material powder blended and mixed and pulverized by 45% by mass is press-molded and then fired to obtain a sintered body.

  The sintering conditions employed for the firing are preferably a vacuum atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere, and in particular, it is preferably performed in a reducing atmosphere. This is because strontium aluminate, the main component of the afterglow phosphor, is fired at a high temperature in an oxidizing atmosphere, so that a part of the component is oxidized to become an alumina glass component, and the afterglow characteristics are greatly deteriorated. Absent. And it is good to perform this baking at the temperature of 1300-1650 degreeC, Most preferably, 1300-1550 degreeC. Since PSZ zirconia does not sinter sufficiently at temperatures lower than 1300 ° C., high hardness and high toughness characteristics cannot be obtained. If it is 1550 ° C. or higher, part of the afterglow phosphor component strontium aluminate is It is because afterglow is impaired by changing to an alumina glass component.

  Further, this firing may be either pressure sintering or non-pressure sintering. Examples of pressure sintering include hot pressing and HIP.

According to the afterglow ceramic molded body obtained by this firing, it contains ZrO ₂ tetragonal crystals, and the sintering conditions are suitably set so that the content is as large as possible. By containing the ZrO ₂ tetragonal crystal in ZrO ₂ at about 60 mol% or more, preferably about 80 mol% or more, high strength and high toughness characteristics can be advantageously achieved.

Meanwhile, blue zirconia ceramics of the present invention, ZrO _2, but containing as a fluorescent component and an essential component stabilizer, does not exclude the inclusion of components other than the above components. For example, when a grinding medium such as a ball is used during mixing and grinding of zirconia, a stabilizer and a coloring component, the components constituting this grinding medium are necessarily contained during the mixing and grinding.

  Thus, uniform fluorination can be achieved by firing, and high strength and toughness characteristics can be obtained.

  An optical fiber fusion holder is formed from the blue zirconia ceramics thus obtained.

  Next, a method for fusion-bonding the ends of optical fibers by electric discharge using the fusion holder 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an outline of the joining process. First, optical fibers 8 serving as the respective core wires of the ribbon fiber 9 are placed in the V-shaped holding grooves 2 of the fusion holding tool 1, respectively. By pressing the upper portion of the optical fiber 8 with the clamp 7, all the optical fibers 8 are moved into the holding groove 2, and are positioned and held at the three points of the inner surface of the holding groove 2 and the pressing surface of the clamp 7. At this time, since the inner surface of the V-shaped holding groove 2 is very smooth and finished with high accuracy, it is positioned and held accurately so that the axes of the held optical fibers 8 are aligned on the same straight line. In addition, the front end surface of the optical fiber 8 that is opposed can be brought into contact with each other accurately.

  Then, a voltage is applied to the pair of discharge electrodes 6 arranged in the discharge groove 4 of the fusion holder 1 to generate a discharge, and the tip of each optical fiber 8 is made into a semi-molten state, and then the state of this state By causing the tips of the optical fibers 8 to be brought into contact with each other and generating high-frequency discharge, the tips of the optical fibers 8 facing each other can be joined accurately and completely.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below. In confirming the effect of the optical fiber fusion holder of the present invention, experiments were conducted on the characteristics of blue zirconia ceramics.

First, afterglow phosphors composed of PSZ zirconia, Co ₃ O ₄ , Al ₂ O ₃ and strontium aluminate containing any stabilizer of Y ₂ O ₃ , MgO and CaO are blended in each proportion. The pulverized and mixed raw material powder was press-molded at a molding pressure of 100 MPa, and then fired under each firing condition to obtain blue zirconia ceramics.

Then, an afterglow luminance after 8 hours was measured with a luminance measuring device under an irradiation condition of stimulating for 20 minutes at a brightness of 400 lux using a D65 standard light source, and the afterglow luminance was 0.5 (mcd / m ^2). ) The above was considered good afterglow brightness.

Further, the obtained sintered body was processed into a size of 3 mm × 4 mm × 37 mm, the bending strength was measured according to JIS R1601, the 4-point bending strength was measured, and the fracture toughness value was measured by an indentation method (IF method).

As shown in Table 1, sample No. 1 was obtained by changing the content of the afterglow phosphor made of strontium aluminate in the range of 2.5% by mass to 50% by mass. 1-No. In the blue zirconia ceramics No. 7, sample No. No. 1 had an afterglow phosphor content of less than 0.5 (mcd / m ² ) because the content of the afterglow phosphor was 2.5% by mass, and the afterglow characteristic was insufficient.

Sample No. 2-No. No. 6 had an afterglow luminance of 0.5 (mcd / m ² ) or more and a bending strength of 300 MPa or more, and could be a material having both afterglow characteristics and high strength material characteristics. Sample No. Although No. 7 had an afterglow luminance of 0.5 (mcd / m ² ) or more, the bending strength was as low as less than 300 MPa, and the strength was insufficient.

Sample No. 3 and Sample No. 10-No. No. 12 is a sintered body with different content of Co ₃ O ₄ of blue afterglow zirconia containing 10% by mass of afterglow phosphor, but as the content of the coloring component increases, the afterglow brightness Tended to be lower.

Sample No. 8 and no. No. 9 is an example using CoO as a cobalt compound, but the afterglow luminance tends to decrease as the CoO content increases. 3 and no. Compared to 10, the afterglow luminance was smaller than that containing an equivalent amount of Co ₃ O ₄ .

Sample No. 13 and no. 14 is an example using PSZ zirconia containing MgO and CaO as stabilizers. Sample No. 14 containing Y ₂ O ₃ as another stabilizer was used. The afterglow luminance was the same as that of Example 3, and the fracture toughness value was also high.

Sample No. 15 is an implementation in the case where Sr ₄ Al ₁₄ O ₂₅ is used as the component of strontium aluminate serving as an afterglow phosphor. 3 was an afterglow luminance equivalent to that when SrAl ₂ O ₄ was used as the component of strontium aluminate serving as the afterglow phosphor, and the fracture toughness value was also high.

  And sample no. 16 and no. No. 17 is an example in which the average particle size of the afterglow phosphor is varied, but a tendency that the afterglow luminance tends to be higher when the average particle size is larger.

Sample No. 3 and Sample No. 18-No. No. 20 is an example in which the average particle diameter of ZrO ₂ powder used for PSZ ceramics is varied. However, the smaller the average particle diameter, the higher the afterglow luminance, and the blue zirconia ceramics have high hardness and high toughness. The tendency to become was seen.

Finally, sample no. 21-No. No. 23 was an example in which the composition ratio of Al ₂ O ₃ was varied, but it showed a tendency that afterglow luminance, bending strength, and fracture toughness decreased as the content of Al ₂ O ₃ increased.

  What produced the optical fiber fusion holder provided with a plurality of holding grooves and discharge grooves from the blue-based zirconia ceramics obtained by the above embodiment is also visible in the arrangement of the optical fiber holding grooves in the dark place. Therefore, it is possible to perform fusion bonding work without the need for lighting or the like, and therefore, it is possible to perform fusion bonding without reducing workability even in gaps of complex buildings.

It is a perspective view which shows the optical fiber fusion holder which concerns on this invention. (A), (b) is an expanded sectional view which shows the other example of the holding groove | channel of the optical fiber fusion holder which concerns on this invention, respectively. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which carries out the fusion | melting joining of the optical fiber using the optical fiber fusion | bonding holder which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: optical fiber fusion holder 2: holding groove 4: discharge groove 6: discharge electrode 7: clamp 8: optical fiber 9: ribbon fiber

Claims (7)

Optical fiber fusion formed by forming a holding groove for positioning and holding each optical fiber and a discharge groove for disposing a discharge electrode on the surface of the blue zirconia ceramics in order to fuse and bond the ends of the optical fibers by electric discharge. In the holder, the blue-based zirconia ceramic contains 5 to 45% by mass of an afterglow phosphor comprising ZrO ₂ as a main component and an activator added to a cobalt compound and strontium aluminate. Fiber fusion holder. The optical fiber fusion holder according to claim 1, wherein the cobalt compound is Co ₃ O ₄ . The optical fiber fusion holder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the amount of Co ₃ O ₄ added is in the range of 0.3 to 5 mass%. Optical fiber fusing holder according to claim 1, characterized in that it is contained Al ₂ O ₃ of 0.2 to 20 mass% in the blue zirconia ceramics. Amount of the of Al ₂ O ₃ is, the optical fiber fusing holder for being in the range of 50 to 600 wt% of the cobalt compound. The optical fiber fusion holder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a bending strength is 350 MPa or more and a fracture toughness is 4.5 MN / m ^3/2 or more. Activator for strontium aluminate containing ZrO ₂ as a main component, containing 0.3-5 mass% Co ₃ O ₄ and 0.2-20 mass% Al ₂ O ₃ and having an average particle diameter of 5-30 μm Obtained by press-molding a raw material powder mixed and pulverized by adding 5 to 45% by mass of an afterglow phosphor added with sinter, followed by firing in a reducing atmosphere at 1300 to 1550 ° C. A manufacturing method of an optical fiber fusion holder, wherein a holding groove for positioning and holding an optical fiber and a discharge groove for arranging a discharge electrode are formed in the blue-based zirconia ceramics.

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