Laboratory of Optical Fibres

Optical fibre preparation:

MCVD (Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition)

- for deposition of silica layers doped with germanium, phosphorus and boron
- an oxygen-hydrogen burner with an automatic temperature control for deposition and collapse
- the typical outer diameter of substrate tubes is 18 mm

Optical-fiber drawing

- two 6.5 m drawing towers
- Special Gas Controls and Centorr graphite furnaces for drawing temperature range 1600-2200°C
- resistance furnace "Clasic" for drawing of "soft-glass fibers" at temperatures up to 1000°C
- optional UV or heat cured polymer coating of drawn fibers
- take-up machine (Heathway)

Dip-coating (ID Lab)

  - dipping/pulling speed range 0-300 mm/min
  - movement range 0-500 mm

  - Rapid Thermal Processing/Annealing (RTA) AccuThermo AW410

Thermal annealing

  - high-temperature (1600°C) laboratory furnace Clasic

  - tube furnaces for annealing temperatures up to 1000°C

Fusion splicing

  - Furukawa electric, model S178A
  - Applicable Fibers SM, MM, DSF, NZD, EDF, BIF/UBIF
  - Cladding Diameter 80-150 μm
  - Coating Diameter 100-1,000 μm
  - Splice Time 7 seconds (semi-auto mode),9 seconds (regular mode)

Other equipment:

• preform analyzer Photon Kinetics A2600

• fibre profiler York Technology S14,
  principle of the measurement and examples of fibre profiles

• mechanical tester

• OTDR

• Fiber spectrophotometers Ocean Optics USB2000, NIR256 and SD 2000

• Optical fiber sources

• Optical fibers cutter FK11 – York

View of the building, where the laboratory is located: