Novel polishing technique for optical fibres

The authors describe a new polishing process for optical fibres. The process exploits the fibres strength and stringy characteristics. The fibre is suspended under slight tension over a lubricated polishing wheel. The wheel rotates at 50-100 RPM. The tension of the fibre is approximately 0.2 N and the wheel is lubricated with liquid paraffin. The radial force on the wheel from the fibre is uniform over the contact length and the fibre is polished uniformly over its length. The process is demonstrated on a single-mode fibre but it is also suitable for multimode fibres