Airline optical fiber with reduced multipath interference and methods of forming same
First Claim
1. A method of forming an airline (AL) fiber that includes an AL region with airlines and an end section, and that has reduced multipath interference (MPI), comprising:
- preparing an end of the end section of the AL fiber to have open airlines; and
introducing a blocking material into the open airlines such that the blocking material serves to attenuate one or more higher-order modes supported by the AL region.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An airline (AL) optical fiber (“AL fiber”) that has an AL region with airlines, with the AL region arranged relative to the fiber core so as to make the fiber bend insensitive. The AL region is capable of supporting one or more higher-order optical modes. One method of reducing multipath interference (MPI) includes accessing a section of the AL fiber and closing at least one of the airlines in the section. This serves to attenuate one or more higher-order modes, which reduces MPI. In one example, the AL fiber has an end section wherein the airlines are filled with a blocking material. An example blocking material is a curable adhesive that is wicked into the airlines via capillary action and then cured when the adhesive reaches a certain depth from the fiber end. In another example, the blocking material is formed by heating the AL fiber section to cause the section to melt and block the airlines, so that the melted AL fiber serves as the blocking material. The AL fiber with reduced MPI is particularly useful as a “jump” fiber, whose length is too short to rely on attenuating higher-order modes via a cable cut-off wavelength.
96 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of forming an airline (AL) fiber that includes an AL region with airlines and an end section, and that has reduced multipath interference (MPI), comprising:
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preparing an end of the end section of the AL fiber to have open airlines; and introducing a blocking material into the open airlines such that the blocking material serves to attenuate one or more higher-order modes supported by the AL region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An airline (AL) jump fiber having reduced multipath interference (MPI), comprising:
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an AL region arranged in operable relation to a core region such that the AL jump fiber is substantially insensitive to optical loss due to bending, and wherein the AL region is capable of supporting at least one higher-order optical mode; and an end section that includes an end, wherein the airlines in the end section are filled with a blocking material so as to substantially attenuate the at least one higher-order mode supported by the AL region so as to reduce the MPI. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of optically coupling an airline (AL) fiber having an AL region that includes airlines to a second AL fiber that includes a second end section having a second end, comprising:
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introducing a blocking material into the airlines at a first end section of the AL fiber so as to substantially attenuate at least one higher-order mode supported by the AL region; supporting the first end section in a ferrule channel of a ferrule so a first end of the first end section resides in the ferrule channel; and supporting the second end section in the ferrule channel so that the second end of the second AL fiber interfaces with the first end in the ferrule channel. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of reducing multipath interference in an airline (AL) fiber having an AL region with one or more airlines, comprising:
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accessing a section of the AL fiber; and closing at least one of the airlines in the section, wherein the closing of at least one of the airlines serves to attenuate one or more higher-order modes supported by the AL region. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of reducing multipath interference in an airline (AL) fiber having an AL region with an AL refractive index and a cladding region with a cladding refractive index, comprising:
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accessing a section of the AL fiber; and causing the AL refractive index in the section to be at least as high as the cladding refractive index by introducing an adhesive into the airlines in the AL region.
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Specification