This article continues FOC’s latest series on optical fiber manufacturing processes, providing an overview of coatings for a wide range of standard communication and specialty optical fibers. The main job of coatings is to protect the glass fiber, but there are...
In this article, the latest in FOC’s series covering specialty fibers and their fabrication, we discuss polarization-maintaining (PM) fibers and the various approaches used to make them. There are several PM fiber designs – all quite different and each with its...
This article continues FOC’s series on specialty optical fibers. An article posted in January 2021, Fabricating Doped Fiber Preforms, discussed problems encountered in making preforms for specialty fibers. The article below focuses on the second part of the...
Since 2018, FOC has provided more than 10 articles on making fiber and preforms. One series of seven articles, launched in January 2018 and written by Larry Donalds, focuses on MCVD technology and issues in making preforms. The second series, started in July 2020 and...
Every step requires precision, starting with the core rod This is the third in FOC’s new series on doped fiber technology. The first article, “Rare Earth Doped Fibers,” reviewed the main methods for making doped-fiber preforms. The second article, “Thulium-Doped...
This new series of articles from FOC will focus on the production of rare earth doped fiber. The first article in this series, Rare Earth Doped Fibers, discussed the evolution of the main processes for making doped fiber preforms. This article discusses factors in...
Believe it or not, rare earth doped optical fiber has been around for about 60 years. Eli Snitzer was the first to report on laser action in a neodymium-doped silicate glass fiber emitting at 1.06 µm back in 1961 [1]. This was the first demonstration of laser action...
“Trial and error.” These two words sum up my 24 years developing and manufacturing specialty preforms and fibers where I operated an MCVD gas delivery system. Our team was constantly testing new ideas to improve fiber strength and yield as well as the...
You can manufacture optical fiber preforms with a very basic system, essentially a gas delivery system in a room with an MCVD lathe. Or you can enhance your system by adding many accessories that will improve fiber strength and yield as well as the reproducibility of...
The lathe, rotary seal, optical pyrometer, deposition burner, and diameter control system all must work together to successfully manufacture a preform. In the following paragraphs, I offer recommendations based on my years developing and manufacturing specialty...
Purchasing high-purity raw materials is critical to manufacturing quality preforms. How we handle our materials, tools, and equipment is equally important. For example, properly purging gas cylinder connections, properly filling reagent bubblers, and properly cleaning...
As we all know, high-purity raw materials are critical to achieve design goals. Low metallic impurities prevent reflective loses, and dry raw materials prevent absorptions. In addition, there are many design tactics to meet cutoff wavelength, mode field diameter...
If your company manufactures optical preforms – or is considering doing so – then you know the gas delivery system is critically important, because it controls the precise delivery of high-purity gases and chemical vapors. Prior to joining Fiber Optic Center, much of...
Attention specialty fiber manufacturers: Take advantage of FOCs preform fabrication consulting to troubleshoot your system and achieve reproducibility and high yields - Fiber Optic Center Editor’s note: With the addition of Larry Donalds to the Fiber Optic Center...
Many thousands, likely hundreds of thousands, of people are employed in the fiber optics industry in various positions and working with components, networks, cabling, construction and splicing equipment and all the business aspects of all of that. However, only a very...
