Characteristics of thermally expanded core fiber

Author

Kihara, Mitsuru ; Matsumoto, Michito ; Haibara, Tadashi ; Tomita, Shigeru

Author_Institution

NTT Access Network Syst. Labs., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

14

Issue

10

fYear

1996

fDate

10/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2209

Lastpage

2214

Abstract

Thermally expanded core (TEC) fiber is expected to reduce fiber-to-fiber and fiber-to-laser diode connection loss. This paper describes the characteristics of TEC fiber theoretically and experimentally. We reveal theoretically that when fabricating TEC fiber the mode field diameter (MFD) is enlarged more effectively by increasing the heating temperature rather than the heating time. In the 1300-1600°C temperature range with heating times between 0 and 60 min, it is necessary to control the temperature accurately so that no deviation from the target temperature is more than ±30°C. This is in order to ensure that any connection loss caused by MFD mismatch is less than 0.1 dB. We show experimentally that the propagation loss of TEC fiber is dependent on the heating region and wavelength by using a micro burner with a propane/oxygen flame. Based on the relationship between the loss characteristics and the expanded MFD, we suggest a method for nondestructively measuring the MFD in TEC fibers

Keywords

diameter measurement; flames; optical fibre couplers; optical fibre fabrication; optical fibre losses; optical fibre testing; optical fibres; thermal expansion; 0 to 60 min; 1300 to 1600 C; MFD mismatch; TEC fiber fabrication; TEC fiber mode field diameter measurement; connection loss; fiber-to-fiber connection loss; fiber-to-laser diode connection loss; heating temperature; heating time; heating times; loss characteristics; micro burner; mode field diameter; propagation loss; propane/oxygen flame; target temperature; temperature range; thermally expanded core fiber; Connectors; Equations; Fires; Heating; Optical fiber communication; Optical fiber devices; Optical fiber losses; Optical fibers; Temperature distribution; Thermal expansion;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.541209

Filename

541209