Single-mode optical fiber with dyed thin coating

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023236356-A1
Application number	US-202318149264-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 3, 2023
Priority date	Jan 25, 2022
Publication date	Jul 27, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a thin coated optical fiber that enables connector assembly without stripping the optical fiber. In particular, the thin coating comprises a hard coating, a dye concentrate, and an adhesion promoter. The formulation of the coating promotes adhesion to a glass cladding of the optical fiber and to a ferrule bore (into which the optical fiber is inserted) by not causing silane decomposition of the coating. Moreover, the coating is colored to enable, among other things, fiber identification within a connector. The thin coated optical fibers exhibit good mechanical and optical performance properties as discussed herein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A coated optical fiber comprising:
a glass optical fiber comprising a fiber core and a cladding surrounding the fiber core; and a polymer coating surrounding the glass optical fiber, the polymer coating comprising a hard coating, a dye concentrate, and an adhesion promoter;
wherein the polymer coating has a thickness between 0.1 microns and 10 microns;
wherein the polymer coating has a concentricity relative to the fiber core ranging between 0.1 microns and 0.5 microns.

2 . The coated optical fiber of claim 1 , wherein the dye concentrate comprises less than 40 wt. % of a composition of the polymer coating.

3 . The coated optical fiber of claim 1 , wherein the adhesion promoter comprises less than 4 wt. % of a composition of the polymer coating.

4 . The coated optical fiber of claim 1 , wherein the polymer coating is selected from the group consisting of: UV-cured acrylates, organic UV-curing acrylate resins filled with SiO 2 or ZrO 2 nanoparticles, non-acrylate polymers such as polyimides, and silane additives.

5 . The coated optical fiber of claim 1 , wherein the concentricity of the polymer coating relative to the fiber core is less than about 0.15 microns.

6 . The coated optical fiber of claim 1 , wherein the adhesion promoter is selected from the group consisting of: acryloxy silanes, methacrylate silanes, or Mercapto silanes, such as (3-Mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane and (3-acryloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane.

7 . An optical fiber connector assembly comprising:
a coated optical fiber comprising:
a glass optical fiber comprising a fiber core and a cladding surrounding the fiber core; and
a polymer coating surrounding the glass optical fiber, the polymer coating having a thickness between 0.1 microns and 10 microns, and a concentricity relative to the fiber core ranging between 0.1 microns and 0.5 microns; and
a ferrule having a front end, a rear end, and a ferrule bore extending between the front end and the rear end, wherein the coated optical fiber is positioned within the ferrule bore;
wherein the polymer coating comprises: a hard coating, a dye concentrate, and an adhesion promoter; and
wherein the dye concentrate comprises less than 40 wt. % of a composition of the polymer coating.

8 . The optical fiber connector assembly of claim 7 , wherein the adhesion promoter comprises less than 4 wt. % of a composition of the polymer coating.

9 . The optical fiber connector assembly of claim 7 , wherein the assembly has an insertion loss ranging between 0.1 dB and 1.5 dB at a reference wavelength of 1310 nm or 1550 nm.

10 . The optical fiber connector assembly of claim 7 , wherein the hard coating is selected from the group consisting of: UV-cured acrylates, organic UV-curing acrylate resins filled with SiO 2 or ZrO 2 nanoparticles, non-acrylate polymers such as polyimides, and silane additives.

11 . The optical fiber connector assembly of claim 7 , wherein the adhesion promoter is selected from the group consisting of: acryloxy silanes, methacrylate silanes, or Mercapto silanes, such as (3-Mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane and (3-acryloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane.

12 . A method of preparing an optical fiber connector assembly that includes a coated optical fiber and a ferrule, the coated optical fiber comprising a glass optical fiber and a polymer coating surrounding the glass optical fiber, the glass optical fiber including a fiber core and a cladding surrounding the fiber core, the ferrule having a front end, a rear end, and a ferrule bore extending between the front end and the rear end, the method comprising:
inserting the coated optical fiber into the ferrule;
wherein the polymer coating of the coated optical fiber engages with an inner surface of the ferrule bore;
wherein the coated optical fiber comprises a hard coating, a dye concentrate, and an adhesion promoter;
wherein the polymer coating has a thickness between 0.1 microns and 10 microns; and
wherein the dye concentrate comprises less than 40 wt. % of a composition of the polymer coating.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising applying a bonding agent on an external surface of the polymer coating prior to inserting the coated optical fiber into the ferrule bore.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the hard coating is selected from the group consisting of: UV-cured acrylates, organic UV-curing acrylate resins filled with SiO 2 or ZrO 2 nanoparticles, non-acrylate polymers such as polyimides, and silane additives.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein a concentricity of the polymer coating relative to the fiber core ranges between 0.1 microns and 0.5 microns.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the optical fiber connector assembly has an insertion loss ranging between 0.1 dB and 1.5 dB at a reference wavelength of 1310 nm or 1550 nm.

17 . A method of preparing a coated optical fiber that comprises a glass optical fiber and a polymer coating, the method comprising:
mixing a hard coating, a dye concentrate, and the adhesion promoter to form a polymer mixture; filtering the polymer mixture through a filter to form the polymer coating, wherein the filter comprises opening of less than 3 microns; drawing the glass optical fiber through the polymer coating to form the coated optical fiber.

Assignees

• Corning Res & Dev Corp

Inventors

• Clark Jeffrey Scott
• Drake Matthew Ryan
• Gu Yunfeng
• Li Ming-Jun
• Mccarthy Joseph Edward
• Mcclure Randy Larue
• Niu Weijun
• Wu Qi

Classifications

• G02B6/02395 Primary

  Glass optical fibre with a protective coating, e.g. two layer polymer coating deposited directly on a silica cladding surface during fibre manufacture (G02B6/02052, G02B6/02057, G02B6/024, G02B6/032, G02B6/105, G02B6/14 take precedence; coating on fibre gratings G02B6/02104; multilayer core or cladding G02B6/036; reinforcing splice joints G02B6/2558; optical cables, i.e. comprising protective structures external to the protective coating such as a jacket or plural coated optical fibres G02B6/44; coating of glass to obtain optical fibres C03C25/104) · CPC title

• G02B6/3826

  characterised by form or shape · CPC title

• G02B6/3849

  using mechanical protective elements, e.g. caps, hoods, sealing membranes (G02B6/3816 takes precedence; provisionally see H01R13/44) · CPC title

• G02B6/3895

  identification of connection, e.g. right plug to the right socket or full engagement of the mating parts (keying element on the plug or adapter G02B6/3831; keying element on the ferrule G02B6/3851; keying element for electrical connection H01R13/64) · CPC title