Good Example Of Electrical Optic Devices And Systems: Essay

Designers can use a number of technologies to ensure minimum device loss when implementing connectors and mechanical splices.

Optical methods involve the use of a visual fault locator (VFL) to verify the loss in mechanical splices and optimize the splice to ensure minimum loss as possible before crimping.
Mechanical techniques of reducing device loss in connectors involve the use of various polishing techniques to create convex fiber ends thus ensuring physical contact between the ends of the fibers and consequently minimizing losses due to reflectance. In mechanical splices, losses due back reflection can be minimized by applying non-perpendicular cleaves which ensure that back reflections are absorbed by the fiber cladding. Dust caps should be used to cover unterminated connector and splice ends since dust scatters and absorbs light leading to loss.
Chemical methods of reducing loss due to dirt involve cleaning the connectors and splices using lint-free wipes that have been moistened with isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol acts as a fast drying cleaning agent and leaves no residue that can lead to loss.

There are several difficulties experienced when making mechanical splices and these include:

Presence of end gaps (air gaps) between the ends of fibers being connected
Deviations from the directions of fiber axes
Core size mismatches (when connecting cores with different diameters)
Numerical Aperture differences between the fiber cores
Parallel offset in fiber cores
Poor core alignment and fiber cleaving skills on the technicians part
High reliance on the naked eye to perform splicing verification (Visual fault locators should be used)
Presence of dirt and oil on unterminated fiber ends. Dirt such as dust scatters light leading to loss while oil from one’s skin attracts dust particles.