Optical fiber junction device
First Claim
1. A junction device for optical fibers having a core of transparent material surrounded by a layer of transparent cladding material having a refractive index lower than that of said core material, said device comprisingat least two optical fibers having their end portions fused together in side-by-side relationship, the cross-sectional area of said end portions decreasing toward the endfaces of said fibers, andat least one other fiber having its end portion disposed parallel to the end portions of said at least two fibers, the endface of said at least one other fiber being fused to the endface of said at least two optical fibers, and the core of said at least one other fiber overlapping at least a portion of the cores of said at least two fibers.
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Abstract
An optical fiber junction device for permanently coupling a pair of optical fibers with a third optical fiber. The end portions of the pair of fibers are fused together in side-by-side relationship so that their endfaces are coplanar, the cross-sectional area of this structure decreasing toward the endfaces of the pair of fibers. The endface of the third fiber is fused to the endfaces of the pair of fibers.
39 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A junction device for optical fibers having a core of transparent material surrounded by a layer of transparent cladding material having a refractive index lower than that of said core material, said device comprising
at least two optical fibers having their end portions fused together in side-by-side relationship, the cross-sectional area of said end portions decreasing toward the endfaces of said fibers, and at least one other fiber having its end portion disposed parallel to the end portions of said at least two fibers, the endface of said at least one other fiber being fused to the endface of said at least two optical fibers, and the core of said at least one other fiber overlapping at least a portion of the cores of said at least two fibers.
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7. A method of forming a junction between at least two optical fibers and at least one other optical fiber, said optical fibers having a core of transparent material surrounded by a layer of transparent cladding material having a refractive index lower than that of said core material, said method comprising
fusing together the end portions of said at least two optical fibers in side-by-side relationship to form a unitary, multi-cored structure having a single cladding layer, the cores of said unitary structure being asymmetrical in cross section, fusing the endfaces of said at least two fibers to the endface of said, at least one other fiber, and heating the fused end portions of said at least two fibers while applying a force thereto which causes said at least two fibers to become elongated and tapered in such a manner that the cross-sectional area of the end of said fused fibers approaches that of said at least one other fiber.
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11. A junction device for optical fibers having a core of transparent material surrounded by a layer of transparent cladding material having a refractive index lower than that of said core material, said device comprising
at least two optical fibers having their end portions fused together in side-by-side relationship, the cross-sectional area of said end portions decreasing toward the endfaces of said fibers, the cores of said end portions being asymmetrical in cross section, and at least a part of the fused end portions of said at least two fibers consisting of a common wall of cladding material having a thickness less than the thickness of the cladding layer in the remainder of said fibers, and at least one other fiber having its end portion disposed parallel to the end portions of said at least two fibers, the endface of said at least one other fiber being fused to the endface of said at least two optical fibers, said fibers substantially constituting the sole energy propagating medium in said device.
Specification