Technology of Lapped Optical-Fiber Couplers

Abstract

The technological steps for the fabrication of lapped fiber couplers are described in detail. Choice of materials and of working parameters as well as the diagnostic measurements of the process are discussed. The guidelines of design are outlined and data on the performances of manifactured wavelength-division-multiplexing couplers are reported. 50mm 2mm see Journal of Optical Communkations.Fig. 1: Geometry of the coupler and of the fiber holder

Fabrication of a Wedge-shaped Fiber Endface by a Self-centering Technique

“…The exact dependence of Ρ/Ρ 0 on the distance d between the cut edge and the core center involves many parameters, and is difficult to predict theoretically. For a given fiber, a calibration curve could be obtained by observation of the edge with a metallographic microscope and a precision graticule [9], while the core position with respect to the fiber can be found by measuring the index profile.…”

A WDM cross-connected star multihop optical network

“…., a (2,k) ShuffleNet requires k2k-1 identical 2 x 2 WDM crossconnects with only two operating wavelengths. Instead of using two wavelength demultiplexers and two wavelength multiplexers to implement the 2 x 2 WDM cross-connect, a much cheaper 2 x 2 WDM lapped coupler can be used [8]. This will result in a great reduction in the cost and complexity of the central hub in the proposed topology.…”

“…A good feature of the lapped coupler, besides its simplicity, is its low excess loss compared to other WDM cross-connects. A reported 2 x 2 WDM lapped coupler intended for splitting of 1300 and 1550 nm wavelengths has an excess loss of less than 1 dB and an extinction ratio of 23 dB [8].…”