多芯光纤活动连接器光学性能评价

Optical performance evaluation of multi-core fiber connectors

为了实现对多芯光纤在光网络系统中的接续并评价连接效果,给出了一种多芯光纤活动连接器的制备方法,用光学连续波反射计和光学低相干反射计分别构建了多芯光纤活动连接器插入损耗和回波损耗测量系统。详细地分析了外在因素和端面质量对多芯光纤活动连接器插入损耗和回波损耗的影响,提出了多芯光纤活动连接器制备和对接时需要满足的三项质量控制条件:精准对芯、物理接触和不相对转动。所制备的多芯光纤活动连接器具有标准的LC型接口,采用三维轮廓仪对多芯光纤活动连接器端面的三维参数(顶点偏移、曲率半径和光纤凹凸度)以及粗糙度进行了表征。用构建的测量系统测得制备的四芯光纤活动连接器中所有纤芯通道实现了平均0.089 dB的低插入损耗和52.31 dB的高回波损耗。为多芯光纤活动连接器走向实际应用提供了制备方法和性能评价方案。

In this study,a technique for the synthesis of multi-core optical fiber connectors used in optical network systems is developed.In addition,systems that can measure the insertion and return losses of multi-core optical fiber movable connectors are constructed using an optical continuous wave reflectometer and optical low-coherence reflectometer,respectively,to evaluate the connection effect.Three quality control requirements-accurate core alignment,physical contact,and non-relative rotation-that must be satisfied during the preparation and docking of multi-core optical fiber connectors are proposed after a detailed analysis of the effects of external factors and end-face quality on the insertion and return losses of multicore optical fiber connectors.A multi-core optical fiber connection with a typical LC-type interface is prepared.A three-dimensional(3D)profiler is used to record the 3D characteristics(vertex offset,curvature radius,optical fiber concavity,and convexity)of the multi-core optical fiber connector,as well as the roughness of its end face.Using the constructed measurement systems,an average low insertion loss of 0.089 dB and average high return loss of 52.31 dB are achieved for all fiber core channels in the prepared four-core fiber connector.Thus,the proposed synthesis method and performance evaluation scheme may facilitate the practical applications of multi-core fiber-optic movable connectors.