Paul Eriksen

Plastic optical connectors molded directly onto optical fibers and optical fiber ribbons

A technique is reported where plastic optical connectors (ferrules) have been transfer molded directly onto optical multimode fibers or fiber ribbons with a silica filled epoxy thermoset. The fabricated connector-types are cylindrical ferrules with 2.5 mm diameter for 1 fiber and flat MT-compatible connectors with 4 or 8 fibers. Preconnectorized optical cables of fixed lengths, typically between 0.2 m and 200 m can be manufactured to a low cost and should be of interest for many applications in the telecom and datacom fields. The loss properties achieved-mean loss values below 1 dB per connector-meet requirements for short haul optical links.<<ETX>>

Microstructured diamond dies for transfer moulding

The wear of Ni dies, used for transfer moulding of abrasive polymer compounds, was investigated and found to be too severe for high precision moulding of micromechanical structures. A diamond die was manufactured as an alternative. It consisted of a thin replicated diamond film on an electroplated Ni carrier. The wear of the diamond die was investigated and found to be negligible. Initially, with normal hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces, the polymer stuck to the die. The reason for this was that a hydrogen-terminated diamond surface is hydrophobic, which makes it difficult for the release spray to stay on the diamond surface. To solve the problem, the diamond surface was made hydrophilic (polar) by wet oxidation, which enabled the release spray to stay on the surface during plastic moulding. Consequently, no sticking of the polymer to the polar diamond surface was observed. Thus, diamond proved to be a very good die material, with enormous wear resistance compared to Ni, for transfer moulding of abrasive polymers.

Hybrid integration technologies for a single-mode array transceiver, including the use of polymer waveguides of benzocyclobutene

Access networks represent a bottle neck in the present communication networks. The introduction of optical single mode technology into the access networks (Fiber TO THE HOME, FTTH; Fiber To The Antenna, FTTA etc.), would be highly desirable. In order for this to occur a drastic reduction of the cost for key optoelectronic components such as transceivers is needed. We report on and discuss different key technologies crucial for the production of low cost optical single mode components. In particular a technology demonstrator in the form of an array transceiver module has been designed and fabricated, thereby demonstrating the process compatibility between a number of low-cost technologies.

Precision molding of plastic connectors directly on single-mode fibers

A pre-connectorization technique using transfer molding of MT-compatible ferrules directly on single-mode optical fibers is reported. Insertion loss values of less than 1 dB are achieved for 85% of all measured fiber channels. The method is expected to provide a cost reduction of approximately 50%, compared to conventional termination techniques, which makes it an attractive solution for Fiber-to-the-Home field installations and other access applications where moderate performance can be accepted.