IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,399,322
Granted Patent B2
US 12,399,322 · App. 17/630,604 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Optical fibre splicing method

Inventor: Simon Bawn (Romsey, GB)
Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
G02B6/2555G02B6/2551G02B6/2553
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,399,322
App. No.
17/630,604
Granted
Aug 26, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method of forming a splice to join two optical fibres comprises: providing two optical fibres, at least one of which is a hollow core optical fibre; aligning an end of one of the optical fibres with an end of the other optical fibre such that longitudinal axes of the two optical fibres are substantially along a same line and the ends of the optical fibres are spaced apart; performing a prefusion stage (S 1 ) comprising: applying an electric arc proximate the ends of the optical fibres in order to soften the material of the ends; moving the ends of the optical fibres together to make contact and then exceed the contact by an overlap distance to form a fused portion in which the ends are fused together; and performing at least one pushing stage (S 2 ), each pushing stage comprising: implementing a cooling period during which no electrical arc is applied; at the end of the cooling period, applying an electrical arc to the fused portion to soften the material of the fused ends; and pushing the fused ends of the optical fibres further together.

Claims (41)

1. A method of forming a splice to join two optical fibres, the method comprising:

providing two optical fibres, at least one of which is a hollow core optical fibre;

aligning an end of one of the optical fibres with an end of the other optical fibre such that longitudinal axes of the two optical fibres are substantially along a same line and the ends of the optical fibres are spaced apart;

performing a prefusion stage comprising:

applying an electric arc proximate the ends of the optical fibres in order to soften the material of the ends;

moving the ends of the optical fibres together to make contact and then exceed the contact by an overlap distance to form a fused portion in which the ends are fused together; and

performing at least one pushing stage, each pushing stage comprising:

implementing a cooling period during which no electrical arc is applied;

at the end of the cooling period, applying an electrical arc to the fused portion to soften the material of the fused ends; and

pushing the fused ends of the optical fibres further together.

2. A method according to claim 1 , in which the at least one pushing stage comprises up to ten pushing stages.

3. A method according to claim 2 , in which the at least one pushing stage comprises three, four or five pushing stages.

4. A method according to claim 1 , in which the at least one pushing stage comprises pushing the fused ends of the optical fibres further together while the electric arc is being applied.

5. A method according to claim 4 , in which the pushing is performed during a final part of an arc time for which the electric arc is applied in the at least one pushing stage.

6. A method according to claim 5 , in which the arc time is 200 ms or longer, and the pushing is performed during a final part of the arc time in the range of 150 ms to 250 ms.

7. A method according to claim 1 , in which, in the at least one pushing stage, the fused ends of the optical fibres are pushed further together by a distance which is between 20% and 30% of the overlap distance in the prefusion stage.

8. A method according to claim 1 , in which, in the aligning, the ends of the optical fibres are spaced apart by a gap in the range of about 2 μm to 10 82 m prior to performing the prefusion stage.

9. A method according to claim 1 , in which during the prefusion stage, the overlap distance is in the range of 6 μm to 8 μm.

10. A method according to claim 1 , in which, during the prefusion stage, the electric arc is generated using an electrical current in the range of 11 mA to 14 mA.

11. A method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

performing a cleaning stage prior to the aligning, the cleaning stage comprising:

positioning the optical fibres with the ends of the optical fibres spaced apart; and

applying an electric arc proximate the ends of the optical fibres in order to generate a plasma in a space between the fibre ends which removes contaminants from end surfaces of the optical fibres; in which the electric arc is applied for a cleaning arc time in the range of 20 ms to 30 ms.

12. A method according to claim 11 , in which the electric arc is generated using an electrical current in the range of 8 mA to 14 mA.

13. A method according to claim 1 , in which the hollow core optical fibre comprises a hollow core surrounded by a microstructured cladding in which the fraction of air filling is at least 0.9.

14. A method according to claim 1 , in which the hollow core optical fibre comprises an antiresonant hollow core fibre.

15. A method according to claim 1 , in which the hollow core optical fibre comprises a photonic bandgap hollow core fibre.

16. A method according to claim 1 , in which both of the two optical fibres is a hollow core fibre.

17. A method according to claim 1 , in which one of the optical fibres is a all-solid optical fibre.

18. An electric arc fusion splicing apparatus configured to receive ends of two optical fibres and join the two optical fibres by forming a splice using a method according to claim 1 .

19. A method of forming a splice to join two optical fibres, the method comprising:

providing two optical fibres, at least one of which is a hollow core optical fibre;

aligning an end of one of the optical fibres with an end of the other optical fibre such that longitudinal axes of the two optical fibres are substantially along a same line and the ends of the optical fibres are spaced apart;

performing a prefusion stage comprising:

applying one or more beams of laser light proximate the ends of the optical fibres in order to soften the material of the ends;

moving the ends of the optical fibres together to make contact and then exceed the contact by an overlap distance to form a fused portion in which the ends are fused together; and

performing at least one pushing stage, each pushing stage comprising:

implementing a cooling period during which no beam of laser light is applied;

at the end of the cooling period, applying one or more beams of laser light to the fused portion to soften the material of the fused ends; and

pushing the fused ends of the optical fibres further together.

20. A method according to claim 1 , in which the at least one pushing stage comprises pushing the fused ends of the optical fibres further together while the electric arc is being applied.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 4, 2023
From: LUMENISITY LIMITED
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 065119/0141 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 3, 2023
From: BAWN, SIMON
To: LUMENISITY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 065105/0064 →
Priority Claims (1)
GB 1911183 · Aug 5, 2019 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220252788A1 · Aug 11, 2022
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