When polishing a fiber optic connector, by polishing machine, there are procedures and setting parameters designed to leverage the machines best practices as well as previous developments and experience. Additionally, there are tips to consider applying during daily...
As you probably know, the polishing process is an extremely important step in the manufacture of fiber optic cable assemblies. Your polishing process ensures your fiber optic connectors meet certain geometric parameters, industry specifications, and/or customer...
In fiber optic cable assembly, the polishing process is perhaps the most critical step to assure high-quality assemblies that meet specifications. That’s why it’s important to select the right optical fiber polishing machine – and polishing fixtures – that meet your...
This blog is authored by the FOC TEAM including: Marcel Buijs, EMEA Business Development, Technical Sales; Erwin Gelderblom, EMEA Business Development, Technical Sales Dan Rocheleau, Business Development, Technical Sales In a perfect world, there would be ONE...
Of the two common ferrule shapes involved in APC polishing – conical and step – the step ferrule is by far the easiest in terms of controlling geometries. Step ferrules are more expensive than conical ferrules. However, from a purely process-control point of view,...
I’ve been watching the development of Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) since the 1980s, when this polishing process was first used in the semiconductor industry. Of course, my interest in CMP became more personal when this process was introduced to the fiber...
“In regards to MT ferrule geometry measurements, Minus Coplanarity (or Minus-Side Coplanarity) is one way to describe how “flat” or “co-planar” an array of fibers is. To ensure minimum optical performance requirements of the...
Frequently, my customers ask for guidance to develop a fiber optic polishing process. While there are many details to consider, the process comes down to 5 basic steps. Note that this article focuses on single-fiber (and not MT) PC ferrules. While much of my advice...
Turn the calendar way back to 1981 – the early days of fiber optics. I was working for a connector manufacturer, and one of my customers asked, “What is the Return Loss of your connector?” I didn’t know the answer! I was stumped and, frankly, I was...
How can you adjust your APC polishing process to modify characteristics of the geometry and achieve consistent accuracy? APC polishing issues could derive from problems with mechanics (materials or equipment) or the polishing process itself. When developing a...
Understanding and controlling end-face geometry characteristics of PC ferrules is fairly simple and intuitive. A radius is……a radius. And if you want to increase the radius of a ferrule, you simply need to polish with less pressure, or use a harder backing pad...
Almost all polishers have MT fixtures but there is a substantial difference on capability and performance. It’s like with cars; you will notice the difference when driving it. As you might notice on our website, in addition to Domaille, we are also a distributor for...
On the cable assembly line, the request for a polisher that allows you to program your processes through an easy-to-use PC-based Windows touch screen is constant. The need is to simplify and once programmed, have displays of your settings for speed, time, pressure,...
To help ensure consistent polishing results, maintenance of all fiber optic polishing equipment is essential. The Preventive Maintenance program for polishing fixtures should include periodic ultrasonic cleaning. This is true for any fiber optic polishing fixtures,...
Primarily, the indicator of over-polished connectors is poor repeatability in measurements of the return loss and insertion loss. For the majority of “spring-loaded ferrule connectors” e.g.; LC, SC, MU, FC. Determining over-polishing of the connector is difficult to...
