Reliable Expanded Beam Connector Compliant with Single-mode Fiber Transmission at 10 Gbit/s

Abstract

International audienceA new microlens design brings together benefits of physical contact and expanded beam technologies resulting in a reliable single-mode fiber connection requiring low maintenance for 10 Gbit/s networks as the Fiber-To-The-Home

Expanded Beam Connectors for Single Mode Optical Fiber Sensor Applications in Harsh Environment

“…3. Coupling loss as low as 0.5 dB from O to C band have been achieved for Return Loss as high as 65 dB [4]. Fig.…”

“…Moreover, the micro lens can also be designed to achieve a wide range of MFD 20 and working distances zw depending on the LGI length and opto-geometric parameters of the GIF as can be seen in Fig. 5 where the MFD and working distance are plotted as a function of relative LGI length to LGIopt as developed in [4,5]. The maximum MFD is 55 µm for a null working distance but it can achieve a wide range of MFD comprised between 10.5 to 55 µm with working distances in a range of 0 up to 500 µm allowing a wide range of applications comprising optical fiber sensors.…”

Coupling Efficiency and Reflectance Analysis of Graded Index Expanded Beam Connectors

“…The expanded beam connectors experimentally reported in [7] have lower reflectance compared to SMF or multimode fibers. To understand this advantage of SMF-GIFs, the reflectance on GIF surface end of SMF-GIF connectors is theoretically investigated.…”

“…Free space connection has the advantage of not damaging the optical faces, but it is sensitive to fluid intrusion and reflections are complex to manage. In a previous work [7], we have proposed a physical contact connector easy to fabricate based on a graded index fiber (GIF) section spliced to a SMF that offers all the advantages of a large beam expansion (56 µ of MFD), low insertion loss (IL), high return loss (RL) and low sensitivity to contaminants. We have demonstrated a good fit between theoretical and experimental evolution of the beam diameter, low IL (< 0.5 dB) at a wavelength of 1550 nm and low sensitivity to contaminants such as water, oil and dust.…”