LASER WELDING SPLICER OF OPTICAL FIBER

摘要

PURPOSE: To form a high quality splice reduced in light loss and the lowering of strength by providing a parabolic mirror having the axis of a parabolic face matched with the axis of a fixed optical fiber. CONSTITUTION: The parabolic mirror 34 having the reflecting surface 36 of the parabolic face is arranged so that the axis is matched with the axis 26 of a laser beam. The first optical fiber 40 from which a buffer layer 16 is removed is held by a clamp so that the axis is matched with the axis 26 of the beam. The second optical fiber 44 is held by a second clamp 46 so that the axis is matched with the axis 26 of the beam. The end part of the first optical fiber is slightly brought into contact with the end part 64 of the second optical fiber 44 at the focus of the mirror 34 and they are fixed so that they face each other. Then, the pulse of a laser is radiated on a focal face 38 by opening the shutter of a laser power source for scheduled time. The intensity of the pulse is controlled so that it becomes minimum power required for fusion- splicing the end parts 62 and 64.