We report on the rapid prototyping platform, developed at Fibercore, for producing spun multicore fiber (MCF) which maintains the high-specification and quality of a large-scale manufacturing process adding the versatility to fully customize fiber for specific applications. Such MCF has been produced by using an ultrasonic drill to accurately position the core holes in the cladding glass, achieving <0.4µm accuracy in fiber. Cross-talk between cores has been minimized by implementing high numerical aperture cores of 0.20, with levels less than -55dB over 400m. Additionally, the high level of germanium doping also allows fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) to be written into each core without the need for hydrogen loading. Finally, in order to enable distinction between any potential twist and strain in the fiber from the bend under measurement, a permanent twist has been introduced in the fiber by spinning the preform whilst it is being drawn. The manufacturing cycle time for the fiber is 8 days, allowing rapid prototyping and repeat development cycles to be tested over a short period of time when creating new fiber designs.
The design of an optical fiber to give optimized sensing and lifetime performance for downhole fiber optic seismic sensors is presented. The SM1500SC(7/80)P is designed with an 80μm cladding diameter, pure silica core, high numerical aperture, high cut off wavelength and a polyimide coating to achieve outstanding performance when used in a coiled deployment state and operating in high temperature and hydrogen rich environments.
For many years, fiber manufacturers have devoted research efforts to develop fibers with improved radiation
resistance, keeping the same advantages and basic properties as standard fibers. Today, both single-mode (SMF) and
multimode (MMF) RadHard (for Radiation-Hardened) fibers are available; some of them are MIL-49291 certified and
are already used, for example in military applications and at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN or in certain
nuclear power plants. These RadHard fibers can be easily connected to standard optical networks for classical data
transfer or they can also be used for command control. Using some specific properties (Raman or Brillouin scattering,
Bragg gratings...), such fibers can also be used as distributed sensing (temperature or strain sensors, etc) in radiation
environments. At least, optical fibers can also be used for signal amplification, either in telecom networks, or in fiber
lasers. This last category of fibers is called active fibers, in opposition to passive fibers used for simple signal
transmission. Draka has also recently worked to improve the radiation-resistance of these active fibers, so that Draka can
now offer RadHard fibers for full optical systems.
After many years of expectations, Fiber To The Home (FTTH) has finally become a reality with a wide number
of projects already running worldwide and growing. Optical fiber is inevitably taking more and more importance
in our environment, but for many good reasons, the space we are truly willing or able to allocate to it remains
limited. These installation constrainsts have turned into additional requirements that need to be addressed for
both active and passive components.
If exceptional bending performances obtained without degrading backward compatibilities is a pre-requisite
to deployment success,1 other parameters also need to be carefully taken into account when designing the ideal
candidate for use in confined environments. Among them, one can cite the bend loss homogeneity over length
and bending directions, the resistance to high optical power under bending and the tolerance to modal noise.
In this paper, we present the design and performances of a bend insensitive fiber optimized towards more
space savings and miniaturization of components. In addition to exceptional bending performances - lower than
0.1 dB/turn over a 5 mm bending radius -, its design guarantees impressive homogeneity levels and enhanced
safety margins for high power applications while being still resistant to modal noise. Successfull cleave- and
splice-ability results are finally presented, making this fiber ideally suited for use in components, pigtails and
patchcords.
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