Title :
Optical characteristics of injection molded plastic ferrules for single-mode optical fiber applications
Author :
Yanagi, Shuichi ; Sato, Hirotsugu ; Shuto, Yoshito ; Ohno, Masayoshi ; Tohmo, S.
Author_Institution :
NTT Opto-Electron. Labs., Ibaraki, Japan
Abstract :
We injection molded a plastic ferrule for a single-mode optical fiber connector. We used liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) as the molding material because of its fine mold replication ability and introduced an eccentricity control mechanism into the ferrule mold. As a result, we succeeded in molding plastic ferrules whose eccentricity was less than 1 μm by optimizing the eccentricity control conditions. The connection loss of these low eccentricity plastic ferrules was around 0.2 dB and they exhibited an excellent reflection characteristic of 52.5 dB. These initial results were maintained during mating tests and temperature and humidity cycling tests
Keywords :
life testing; moulding; optical fibre couplers; optical fibre losses; optical fibre subscriber loops; optical fibre testing; optical polymers; plastics; 0.2 dB; connection loss; eccentricity control conditions; eccentricity control mechanism; excellent reflection characteristic; ferrule mold; fibre mating tests; fine mold replication ability; humidity cycling tests; injection molded plastic ferrules; liquid crystalline polymer; low eccentricity plastic ferrules; molding material; optical characteristics; plastic ferrule; single-made optical fiber applications; single-mode optical fiber connector; Connectors; Crystalline materials; Crystallization; Liquid crystal polymers; Optical fibers; Optical materials; Optical polymers; Optical reflection; Plastics; Testing;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/2944.806751
