SEALING OPTICAL FIBERS WITHOUT METALLIZATION


ABSTRACT

This paper describes an alternative way of sealing an optical fiber at a much lower cost than soldering, with an equal to or lower susceptibility to creep and misalignment of the fiber, and higher reliability. It involves the use of a low temperature (320C) glass preform which seals directly to the bare fiber without the need for the costly metallization required for soldering. Various processing methods are outlined, along with cross sections of the sealed fiber in a ferrule. The key variables of the seal length, inside diameter of the tube, and the tube material itself are discussed in reference to their impact on designing a reliable, stress controlled hermetic seal. Reliability information is presented to demonstrate the viability of this technique for hermetically sealing optical fibers in a package feed-through tube.

Request this document
HOME | TOP OF PAGE | SITE MAP