Abstract

Heat conduction in optical fibers during CO₂ laser splicing is analyzed, taking into account the Gaussian profile of the laser power density distribution. Expressions for temperature in optical fibers are derived as a function of time, position, and beam radius. The minimum required laser power is calculated for various beam radii and compared with the experimental results. Typical combinations of laser beam parameters required to achieve good splices of silica fibers with approximately 150-μm o.d. are 500-μm beam radius and 3-W beam power.

© 1977 Optical Society of America

Optical fiber splicing with a low-power CO₂ laser

K. Egashira and M. Kobayashi
Appl. Opt. 16(6) 1636-1638 (1977)

End preparation and fusion splicing of an optical fiber array with a CO₂ laser

Kyoichi Kinoshita and Morio Kobayashi
Appl. Opt. 18(19) 3256-3260 (1979)

Two-dimensionally arrayed optical-fiber splicing with a CO₂ laser

Kyoichi Kinoshita and Morio Kobayashi
Appl. Opt. 21(19) 3419-3422 (1982)

Passive Q-switching of a CO₂ laser by CH₃F: an analysis

Adam D. Devir and Uri P. Oppenheim
Appl. Opt. 16(10) 2757-2763 (1977)

Delay distortion characteristics of optical fiber splices

A. H. Cherin and P. J. Rich
Appl. Opt. 16(2) 497-500 (1977)