FIBER OPTIC RIBBON

摘要

A fiber optic ribbon includes optical fibers, each including a core surrounded by cladding, and edge bonding rigidly connecting the optical fibers to one. The ribbon further includes a stress-isolation layer surrounding the optical fibers and edge bonding, and a hardened shell surrounding the stress-isolation layer. The edge bonding mitigates independent movement of the optical fibers relative to one another within the stress-isolation layer. At 25° Celsius and at sea level, the Young's modulus of elasticity of the hardened shell is, on average, at least twice that of the stress-isolation layer. Accordingly, the hardened shell mitigates damage to the stress-isolation layer from external sources of wear, the stress-isolation layer cushions the optical fibers relative to external sources of stress and provides some flexibility to the optical fibers within the hardened shell, and the edge bonding mitigates attenuation of the optical fibers associated with fiber-on-fiber loading internal to the stress-isolation layer.

主权项

1. A fiber optic ribbon, comprising:
a plurality of optical fibers arranged side-by-side with one another, wherein each of the optical fibers comprises a glass core and a glass cladding, wherein the glass cladding surrounds and overlays the glass core, wherein the glass cladding of one of the optical fibers is less than 50 micrometers from the glass cladding of an adjoining one of the optical fibers of the fiber optic ribbon, and wherein the optical fibers have a polymeric coating discretely surrounding the glass cladding that is less than 20% of the diameter of the glass core and the glass cladding portions of the optical fiber in thickness, or wherein the optical fibers have no individual polymeric coating at all; and matrix coupling the optical fibers to one another in the ribbon, wherein most of the volume of the ribbon is glass of the optical fibers.