Method of manufacturing a passive fiber optic component

摘要

A method of manufacturing a passive fiber optic component, in which two or more fibers are each bared at one end by removal of the outer coating of the fiber the bare portions of the fibers are etched to produce a cylindrical end portion which adjoins a conical portion. Subsequently, the fibers (1) are arranged with their etched portions in a capillary tube which is sealed at one end. The tube is then evacuated and is fused with the etched portions of the fibers to form a solid rod with a rotationally symmetric distribution of the end portions of the fibers. The fibers are etched to such a diameter that after fusion of the fibers with the tube, the fused fibers ends have a circular cross-section substantially equal to the cross-section of a single fiber core. An end face is formed on the rod by cleaving or by grinding, and by polishing to obtain a fused fiber head. The fiber head forms a fiber-optic component itself, or forms a basic element for a great number of fiber-optic components such as splitters and couplers.