| 摘要 |
A glass optical fiber (20) includes multiple cores (14) fused into a single fiber. The new optical fiber is coherent, in the sense that the cores maintain their relative position with respect to each other within the fiber throughout the length of the fiber. In one aspect of the invention the fiber presents a circular cross section, in another it presents an elliptical cross section of greater eccentricity to ease the task of orienting the cores within the fiber for connection to other optical components. An orienting core (226) may suitably be included in the fiber to further assist in orienting the fiber end. In manufacturing the new optical fiber, a silica tube (12) is stuffed with cores canes (14). The resultant assembly is then melted or fused, preferably while being drawn under vaccum, to produce an integrated multicore fiber blank (10) which then can be drawn down to a standard diameter fiber using standard fiber drawings techniques. Alternatively, fusing and drawing can be combined in a single step process. |
