WO2002042814A1 - Terminaison d'une fibre optique polymere - Google Patents

Terminaison d'une fibre optique polymere Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2002042814A1
WO2002042814A1 PCT/AU2001/001523 AU0101523W WO0242814A1 WO 2002042814 A1 WO2002042814 A1 WO 2002042814A1 AU 0101523 W AU0101523 W AU 0101523W WO 0242814 A1 WO0242814 A1 WO 0242814A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
optical fibre
holes
terminating
optical
fibres
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/AU2001/001523
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Martijn Van Eijkelenborg
Simon C Fleming
Ian Maxwell
Original Assignee
The University Of Sydney
Redfern Polymer Optics Pty Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by The University Of Sydney, Redfern Polymer Optics Pty Limited filed Critical The University Of Sydney
Priority to US10/432,016 priority Critical patent/US20040052485A1/en
Priority to AU2002223281A priority patent/AU2002223281A1/en
Publication of WO2002042814A1 publication Critical patent/WO2002042814A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/255—Splicing of light guides, e.g. by fusion or bonding
    • G02B6/2551—Splicing of light guides, e.g. by fusion or bonding using thermal methods, e.g. fusion welding by arc discharge, laser beam, plasma torch
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
    • G02B6/262—Optical details of coupling light into, or out of, or between fibre ends, e.g. special fibre end shapes or associated optical elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/02—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating
    • G02B6/02033—Core or cladding made from organic material, e.g. polymeric material
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/02—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating
    • G02B6/02295—Microstructured optical fibre
    • G02B6/02314—Plurality of longitudinal structures extending along optical fibre axis, e.g. holes
    • G02B6/02342—Plurality of longitudinal structures extending along optical fibre axis, e.g. holes characterised by cladding features, i.e. light confining region
    • G02B6/02347—Longitudinal structures arranged to form a regular periodic lattice, e.g. triangular, square, honeycomb unit cell repeated throughout cladding
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/02—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating
    • G02B6/02295—Microstructured optical fibre
    • G02B6/02314—Plurality of longitudinal structures extending along optical fibre axis, e.g. holes
    • G02B6/02385—Comprising liquid, e.g. fluid filled holes

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a method of terminating optical fibre of the type formed from a polymeric material and having a longitudinally extending light guiding core region and surrounding light confining elements in the form of longitudinally extending channel-like holes.
  • the invention has application to the class of optical fibres that are known as photonic crystal fibres, including those disclosed in International patent application No. PCT/AU01/00890 dated 23 July 2001, and to polymer optical fibres, for example of the type that are disclosed in International Patent Application PCT/AU01/00891 dated 20 July 2001.
  • Polymer optical fibres are recognised as having potential application as low cost, broad bandwidth, easy- to-ins'tall waveguides. These features make them eminently suitable for use as relatively short length high-speed date transmission lines, typically in local area network and residential signal transmission applications. For such applications it often required to couple different light transmitting media.
  • the success of light transmission into, between and from an optical fibre is determined at least in part by the level of alignment that is established between the light guiding core region of the optical fibre and a waveguide or other device from or into which the light is coupled. This applies to source-to-fibre coupling, fibre-to-fibre splicing and fibre-to-detector coupling.
  • the cost of coupling or splicing is determined by the intricacy of alignment in any given situation. Alignment difficulties are exacerbated in the case of photonic crystal fibres due typically to the small size of the light guiding core regions of such 'fibres. These difficulties might be avoided or minimised, and the use of relatively simple splicing/connecting tools might be facilitated, if large spot size single mode photonic crystal fibres (i.e., fibres that exhibit large transverse optical intensity profiles) were to be used. However, such fibres exhibit severe bending losses and it is desirable that an alternative solution to the alignment difficulty be adopted.
  • Optical fibres when formed from polymeric materials provide at least a partial solution to these difficulties but it has been determined that polymer optical fibres are inherently difficult to terminate, for example to permit splicing.
  • the present invention provides a method of terminating an optical fibre of the type formed from a polymeric material and having a longitudinally extending light guiding core region and light confining elements in the form of longitudinally extending channellike holes.
  • the method comprises restricting the cross- sectional area of at least some of the holes over a portion of their length adjacent and extending to a terminal end of the optical fibre.
  • the cross-sectional area of the holes is restricted, using the inherent properties of the polymeric material, in a manner effectively to increase the cross-sectional area of the light guiding region of the optical fibre adjacent the terminal end of the optical fibre.
  • the invention may also be defined in terms of an optical device that comprises or incorporates an optical fibre which is terminated by the above defined method.
  • the invention may further be defined in terms of a method of splicing two optical fibres, each being of a type formed from a polymeric material and having a longitudinally extending light guiding core region and light confining elements in the form of longitudinal extending channel-like holes.
  • the method comprises the steps of terminating each of the optical fibres by the above-defined method of terminating an optical fibre, aligning the two optical fibres and conjoining the terminal ends of the two aligned optical fibres.
  • the invention may be defined still further in terms of an optical device that comprises or incorporates two optical fibres which are spliced by the above defined method.
  • the restriction of the holes may be effected in various ways: By subjecting the terminal end region of the optical fibre to mechanical compression in a radially inward direction, by thermally collapsing the hole- surrounding material of the optical fibre by the application of a low level of heat, by filling ' the holes with a filling agent such as a settable liquid, or by any combination of these approaches.
  • the thermal collapsing of the hole-surrounding material may be effected by the application of a level of heat that is sufficient to allow thermal moulding, ⁇ O-i to t H M u ⁇ o ⁇ i o Ul o n
  • the thermal energy most preferably corresponds to that used for drawing of the optical fibre.
  • Figure 1 shows a transverse cross-section of a typical polymer photonic crystal fibre of a type to which the present invention might be applied;
  • Figure 2 shows a longitudinal view of the polymer optical fibre as seen in the direction of section plane 2.2 of Figure 1;
  • Figure 3 shows a longitudinal view of the polymer optical fibre when terminated in accordance with a first method
  • Figure 4 shows a longitudinal view of an polymer optical fibre when terminated in accordance with a second method of the invention
  • Figure 5 shows a longitudinal view of an polymer optical fibre when terminated in accordance with a third method of the invention
  • Figure 6 shows a spliced arrangement of two polymer optical fibres that are terminated by the method that is illustrated in Figure 3;
  • Figure 7 shows an arrangement for terminating and splicing two polymer optical fibres.
  • a polymer photonic crystal fibre 10 typically comprises a light guiding core region 11 and a cor -surrounding region 12.
  • Light confining elements in the form of longitudinally extending channel-like holes 13 are located within the core-surrounding region 12, and each of the holes 13 normally extends for the full length of the optical fibre 10.
  • the holes 13 are positioned geometrically in concentric hexagonal rings that surround the core region 11, and the holes 13 normally are occupied by air.
  • the core region 11 may be considered notionally as being located within the inner ring of holes 13 and this is illustrated most graphically in Figures 2 to 6. However, it will be understood that the core region 11 need not necessarily have any clearly defined outer margin.
  • Each of the holes will typically have a diameter in the order of 1 ⁇ m and the holes will have centre spacings in the order of 3 ⁇ m.
  • the core region 11 and the core-surrounding region 12 usually are homogeneous, in the sense that they are both formed from the same material without any interface between the two regions. Any optically transparent polymeric material may be employed in forming the core and the core surrounding regions, It will be appreciated that the invention does have application to optical fibres that have geometric structures different from that illustrated in Figure 1. 'In particular the invention does have application to optical fibres of the type that are described and illustrated in the above referenced two international patent applications numbered PCT/AUOl/00890 and PCT/AU01/00891.
  • the present invention is directed to a method of terminating the polymer optical fibre by a process that involves restricting the cross- sectional area of at least some of the holes 13 , in the extreme by closing all of the holes over a portion of ⁇ - 0 (T
  • Heating of the terminal end may be combined with simultaneous thermal moulding, squeezing and/or reshaping of the terminal end, or by fusing the terminal end of the fibre into a suitable connector.
  • material may be introduced into the holes 13 over a required distance at the terminal end of the fibre. This approach will permit a controlled change to be made in the refractive index of the core- surrounding region 12 adjacent the terminal end of the fibre.
  • Settable liquid may be directed into the holes for the desired distance by creating a suction pressure within the holes, by inducing capillary movement of the liquid and/or by pressurising the liquid within a bath so that it is caused to penetrate the holes at the terminal end of the optical fibre.
  • Two polymer optical fibres 1 ⁇ > and 16 may be cut in a rough manner and aligned within a suitably shaped die 17.
  • the die is equipped with heating facilities and comprises two mutually converging, aligned conical portions which are joined at their smaller ends.
  • the die 17 is heated and the two optical fibres 15 and 16 are pushed into the conical portions, the polymeric material will collapse and at least part of the holes will close.
  • the heat in addition, fuses the terminal ends of the two fibres together .
  • the die 17 may be composed of metal coated with teflon and may comprise two halves which can be split after the fibres are fused to permit removal of the spliced fibres.
  • a low-refractive index coating material may be applied to the splice region for extra protection and to prevent leakage.
  • a method of splicing two optical fibres each being of a type formed from a polymeric material and having a longitudinally extending light guiding core region and light confining elements in the form of longitudinal extending channel-like holes; the method comprising the steps of: terminating each of the optical fibres by the method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, aligning the two optical fibres and conjoining the terminal ends of the two aligned optical fibres.
  • An optical device that comprises or incorporates two optical fibres which are spliced by the method as claimed in any one of the claims 16 to 21.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Optical Couplings Of Light Guides (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé pour réaliser une terminaison de fibre optique polymère (10), comportant une zone coeur (11) de guidage de lumière et des orifices (13) de confinement de la lumière ressemblant à des canaux, cette zone coeur et ces orifices s'étendant longitudinalement. Le procédé consiste à resserrer une section transversale d'une partie ou de tous les orifices (13) sur une portion de leur longueur adjacente et s'étendant jusqu'à une terminaison (14) de la fibre optique (10). Ce resserrement d'une section transversale des orifices, qui fait intervenir les propriétés inhérentes au matériau polymère, est réalisé de manière à augmenter efficacement la section transversale de la zone coeur (11) de guidage de lumière de la fibre optique (10) adjacente à sa terminaison (14). La présente invention porte également sur un procédé pour raccorder deux fibres optiques polymères (10) de ce type, selon lequel une terminaison est réalisée selon le procédé susmentionné pour chacune des fibres, qui sont ensuite alignées et dont les terminaisons (14) sont alors jointes.
PCT/AU2001/001523 2000-11-21 2001-11-21 Terminaison d'une fibre optique polymere WO2002042814A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/432,016 US20040052485A1 (en) 2000-11-21 2001-11-21 Terminating polymer optical fibre
AU2002223281A AU2002223281A1 (en) 2000-11-21 2001-11-21 Terminating polymer optical fibre

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AUPR1594A AUPR159400A0 (en) 2000-11-21 2000-11-21 Terminating optical fibre
AUPR1594 2000-11-21

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2002042814A1 true WO2002042814A1 (fr) 2002-05-30

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/AU2001/001523 WO2002042814A1 (fr) 2000-11-21 2001-11-21 Terminaison d'une fibre optique polymere

Country Status (2)

Country Link
AU (2) AUPR159400A0 (fr)
WO (1) WO2002042814A1 (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2003032039A1 (fr) * 2001-10-09 2003-04-17 Crystal Fibre A/S Fibre optique hermetiquement fermee comportant des vides ou trous, et procede de fabrication et d'utilisation afferents
WO2004001465A1 (fr) * 2002-06-24 2003-12-31 Crystal Fibre A/S Analyse de fluide utilisant un guide d'onde a cristaux photoniques
EP1426795A2 (fr) * 2002-11-28 2004-06-09 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Fibre optique microstructurée et module optique
WO2004090510A1 (fr) * 2003-04-14 2004-10-21 Alight Technologies A/S Aiguille a fibre optique destinee a l'analyse spectroscopique de liquides
WO2006073495A1 (fr) * 2004-07-30 2006-07-13 Stevens Institute Of Technology Fonctionalisation de reseaux de trous d'air de fibres de cristal photonique
US7577330B2 (en) * 2007-05-03 2009-08-18 Corning Cable Systems Llc Connectorized nano-engineered optical fibers and methods of forming same

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5155792A (en) * 1991-06-27 1992-10-13 Hughes Aircraft Company Low index of refraction optical fiber with tubular core and/or cladding
WO2000019256A1 (fr) * 1998-09-25 2000-04-06 Corning Incorporated Fibre optique ayant un diametre de champ de mode dilate et procede de dilatation du diametre de champ de mode d'une fibre optique
WO2000049435A1 (fr) * 1999-02-19 2000-08-24 Balzephotonics Limited Fibres optiques a cristal photonique ameliorees
US6334017B1 (en) * 1999-10-26 2001-12-25 Corning Inc Ring photonic crystal fibers

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5155792A (en) * 1991-06-27 1992-10-13 Hughes Aircraft Company Low index of refraction optical fiber with tubular core and/or cladding
WO2000019256A1 (fr) * 1998-09-25 2000-04-06 Corning Incorporated Fibre optique ayant un diametre de champ de mode dilate et procede de dilatation du diametre de champ de mode d'une fibre optique
WO2000049435A1 (fr) * 1999-02-19 2000-08-24 Balzephotonics Limited Fibres optiques a cristal photonique ameliorees
US6334017B1 (en) * 1999-10-26 2001-12-25 Corning Inc Ring photonic crystal fibers

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
BENNETT P.J. ET AL.: "Toward practical holey fiber technology: fabrication, splicing, modeling and characterization", OPTICS LETTERS, vol. 24, no. 17, 1 September 1999 (1999-09-01), pages 1203 - 1205 *
KNIGHT J.C. ET AL.: "Large mode area photonic crystal fibre", ELECTRONICS LETTERS, vol. 34, no. 13, 25 June 1998 (1998-06-25), pages 1347 - 1348 *

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2003032039A1 (fr) * 2001-10-09 2003-04-17 Crystal Fibre A/S Fibre optique hermetiquement fermee comportant des vides ou trous, et procede de fabrication et d'utilisation afferents
US7327922B2 (en) * 2001-10-09 2008-02-05 Crystal Fibre A/S Hermetically sealed optical fibre with voids or holes, method of its production, and its use
WO2004001465A1 (fr) * 2002-06-24 2003-12-31 Crystal Fibre A/S Analyse de fluide utilisant un guide d'onde a cristaux photoniques
EP1426795A2 (fr) * 2002-11-28 2004-06-09 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Fibre optique microstructurée et module optique
EP1426795A3 (fr) * 2002-11-28 2004-09-08 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Fibre optique microstructurée et module optique
US6915053B2 (en) 2002-11-28 2005-07-05 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Microstructured optical fiber and optical module
AU2003262469B2 (en) * 2002-11-28 2008-07-17 Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Microstructured optical fiber and optical module
WO2004090510A1 (fr) * 2003-04-14 2004-10-21 Alight Technologies A/S Aiguille a fibre optique destinee a l'analyse spectroscopique de liquides
WO2006073495A1 (fr) * 2004-07-30 2006-07-13 Stevens Institute Of Technology Fonctionalisation de reseaux de trous d'air de fibres de cristal photonique
US7577330B2 (en) * 2007-05-03 2009-08-18 Corning Cable Systems Llc Connectorized nano-engineered optical fibers and methods of forming same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2002223281A1 (en) 2002-06-03
AUPR159400A0 (en) 2000-12-14

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