Influence of kinematic variables on apex offset in polishing process of fiber optic connectors.docx
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Influenceofkinematicvariablesonapexoffsetinpolishingprocessoffiberopticconnectors
JiAnDuan,DeFuLiu*
CollegeofMechanicalandElectricalEngineering,CentralSouthUniversity,Changsha4W083,China
ARTICLEINFO
ABSTRACT
Articlehistory:
Received17December2010
Receivedinrevisedform4September2011
Accepted30October2011
Availableonline9November2011
Fiberopticconnectorsarethefundamentalpassiveopticaldevicesforopticalfibertransmissionsystems.Apexoffsetonthesphericalend-faceofafiberopticconnectorcouldsignificantlydeteriorateitsopticalperformances(suchascausinghigherbackreflection).Apexoffsetiscloselyrelatedtopolishinglocusanddependsonthekinematicvariablesofpolishingmachine.Thepolishingprocessesoffiberopticconnectorshavebeenexperimentallyinvestigated.However,therearefewreportsontherelationship
Keywords:
Fiberopticconnectors
Apexoffset
Polishinglocus
Kinematicvariables
betweenpolishinglocusandapexoffset.Thispaperpresentsapolishinglocusmodelforapolishingmachineoffiberopticconnectors.Onthebasisofthemodel,therelationshipsbetweentheapexoffsetandkinematicvariablesareobtainedbyanalyzingthepolishingdistancedeviationindexandthepolishingspeedfluctuationindex.Agroupofoptimumkinematicvariables,whichcanminimizeapexoffset,arederivedinthispaper.Theexperimentalresultsshowthatboththepolishinglocusmodelandtheoptimumkinematicvariablesdevelopedinthispaperareaccurate.
©2011ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
1.Introduction
Fiberopticconnectorsarethefundamentalpassiveopticaldevicesforopticalfibertransmissionsystems,andtheyplayasubstantialroleinconnectingthetwocoresofglassfiberends.Withthedevelopmentofopticalfibercommunicationtechnologytohighbandwidthandhighdatatransmissionspeed,theopticalperformanceoffiberopticconnectorsdemandsahigherstandard[1-4].Fromviewpointsofopticalcharacteristics,lessinsertionlossandhigherreturnloss(lessbackreflection)arerequiredfortheopticalconnectorsusedattheinterfacesbetweenopticalfibers.Therearemanyfactorsthatcauseinsertionlossandreturnlossinfiberopticconnectors,includingseparation(airgap)betweentwoconnectors,lateralmisalignment,angularmisalignment,mismatchindiametersofcoreandcladding[5].Separation(airgap)betweentwoconnectorsisthemostimportantfactorthatdeterioratesopticalperformanceoffiberopticconnectorsbecauseofthedifferenceofrefractiveindexbetweenairandopticalfiber[3].Therefore,amongthemanytypesofconnectors,thephysicalcontact(PC)typehasemergedasthemostpopularconnector[6,7]toeliminateairgapbetweentwoconnectors.Itisdesignedtohaveasphericalendface,consistingofasurroundingzirconiaferrule(outerdiameteris2.5mm)andacenteredglassfiber(diameteris0.125mm).Thesphericalend-faceisgeneratedinprecisiongrindingpriortothefiberassembly(calledpre-convex).Afteritsassembly,thefiber
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l0.1016/j.precisioneng.2011.10.009protrudingfromthesphericalend-faceoftheferruleiscleaved.Inordertoobtainlowinsertionlossandbackreflection,oneofthekeyprocessesistopolishthesphericalend-faceinapolishingmachineusingpolishingfilmswithvariousdiamondabrasivegritsizes[8-13].Thegeometricalparametersoftheend-facesandopticalperformanceofconnectorsaremeasuredusinganopticalinterferometer[14]andaninsertion/returnlossmeter.Apexoffsetisoneofthegeometricalparametersofthesphericalend-faceofaconnector.Theapexoffset,whichisaradialdistance0,asshowninFig.1)fromthecenteroffibertotheapexofthesphericalend-face,wouldcauseanairgap(V,asshowninFig.1)betweentwofiberend-faces[7].Thatistosay,thehighapexoffsetofthesphericalend-faceofapolishedconnectorcouldsignificantlydeterioratetheopticalperformance(e.g.causehigherbackreflection)[7].Hence,theapexoffsetshouldberemovedasmuchaspossible.Thereisnostandardforthevalueoftheapexoffset,butbasedontheexperimentalresultsobtainedbyotherinvestigators[7,15],theapexoffsetlessthan30|jLmisacceptable.Theapexoffsetdependsonthepolishinglocusandthekinematicvariablesofthepolishingmachine.However,therehavebeenfewpublishedpapersonthissubject.Thispaperdescribesapolishinglocusmodeldevelopedforapolishingmachineoffiberopticconnectors.Onthebasisofthepolishinglocusmodel,relationshipsbetweentheapexoffsetandthekinematicvariablesareobtainedbyanalyzingthepolishin