Peter A. Weimann

Optical fiber coatings

The outside coating of dual coated optical fibers is improved by the addition of a filler to increase the microbending resistance of the optical fiber. The coating is improved by the addition of very small clay platelets, with the platelets aligned along the fiber axis. It is found that standard polymer coatings can be loaded with enough filler to enhance the mechanical properties, while the particulates are small enough to be essentially transparent to the UV curing radiation.Optical fiber coatings, such as polymeric, metallic and inorganic are routinely applied on fibers. Polymeric coatings, particularly ultraviolet (UV) -cured acrylate are extensively used in the telecommunication industries. Metallic coatings, such as tin coated fibers showed strength values near to the theoretical value of pure silica. Inorganic coatings, such as amorphous carbon coated fibers showed comparable strength and high fatigue resistance for using these fibers as a potential long term reliable fibers. A review of different optical coatings, current status and future direction is presented.

Bend insensitive fibers for FTTH and MDU

As deployment of fiber to the home (FTTH) within multiple dwelling units (MDUs) is growing, more technicians will be involved in the deployment of optical drop cables, and there is a desire to use craft and practice similar to what is used for copper cables. We introduce a solid bend insensitive fiber in this application that is backwards compatible to G.652D fiber, and has macrobending, splice loss and system performance to meet the very demanding conditions of these applications. A closer look at the demands of this environment has made it necessary to re-evaluate reliability in these critical applications. We apply the Power Law Model to predict reliability in these demanding applications, and provide experimental evaluation of the model through testing on optical fibers and cables. It will be shown that bends and tension need to be considered together when evaluating the reliability of the passive optical plant.

New passive optical technologies enabling faster, lower cost MDU installations

New optical fiber, cable, and connecting technologies can significantly reduce MDU optical cabling system installation labor and materials. Recent innovations can help reduce installed costs up to 65% and speed deployment up to 500%.