Title :
Injection molded plastic multifiber connector realizing physical contact with fiber elasticity
Author :
Kobayashi, Masaru ; Yoshida, Takashi ; Asakawa, Shuichiro ; Iwano, Shin Ichi ; Nagase, Ryo ; Sumida, S. ; Mitachi, Seiko
Author_Institution :
NTT Photonic Lab., Ibaraki, Japan
Abstract :
We have proposed and demonstrated a fiber physical contact connector. This connector aligns multiple bare fibers in microholes individually and realizes physical contact by using the buckling force of the fibers themselves. The prototype is injection molded plastic and has a size of 7×24×3 mm for 8 fibers at a 0.25-mm pitch. The average insertion and return losses for single-mode fibers are under 0.2 dB and over 60 dB. These losses are stable in environmental tests
Keywords :
environmental testing; moulding; optical fibre couplers; optical fibre fabrication; optical fibre losses; optical fibre testing; optical interconnections; optical polymers; plastics; 0.2 dB; 24 mm; 3 mm; 60 dB; 7 mm; average insertion losses; environmental tests; fiber elasticity; fiber physical contact connector; injection molded plastic; injection molded plastic multifiber connector; microholes; multiple bare fibers; optical fibre connector alignment; optical fibre testing; physical contact; return losses; single-mode fibers; Connectors; Contacts; Elasticity; Insertion loss; Optical fiber testing; Optical fibers; Optical interconnections; Optical losses; Optical refraction; Plastics;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/2944.806752
