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CO 2 Laser Fusion Splicing Between PBGF and SMF. Dana Cristea Bridgewater College / KSU Physics Research 2006. Other members of LUMOS lab: Kristan Corwin, Rajesh Thapa, Kevin Knabe, Andrew Jones. Purpose. What? ~ Sealing hollow optical fiber containing acetylene gas.
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CO2 Laser Fusion Splicing Between PBGF and SMF Dana Cristea Bridgewater College / KSU Physics Research 2006 Other members of LUMOS lab: Kristan Corwin, Rajesh Thapa, Kevin Knabe, Andrew Jones
Purpose • What? ~ Sealing hollow optical fiber containing acetylene gas. • Why? ~ Frequency metrology, atomic clocks and quantum/atom optics • Who else? ~ P.S. Light, F. Couny, and F. Benabid. Single Mode Fiber (SMF) Photonic Bandgap Fiber (PBGF)
My Project Description • Status of Project: - splices made in air; - new apparatus build, untested. • My Goal: - make splices in vacuum. • Results: - Improved splices in air. • Major Challenges: - fiber slipping and sticking to clamps; - fiber length. • Future Directions
Project Set-up HeNe CO2 ZnSe Lens Clamps with Fibers Combiner
ZnSe Lens Lasers are passing through the center of the lens: Lasers are not centered:
Fiber Set-up Power (in mW) = 10 (Power dBm)/10 “Butt Coupled” fibers Fiber connected to Power meter Fiber connected to IR Laser ~2.3dBm (1.69 mW) Clamp on translation stage
Procedure • Secure fibers in clamps • Overlap lasers and align them onto fibers • “Butt Couple” the fibers until maximum transmission obtained. • Apply “Stuffing Stroke” ~ pushing fibers together until transmission drops ~3-4 dBm (fibers shrink during splice).
Splice at 3V for 1 minute or until transmission through fibers drops. Pre-heating for 20 sec. at 0.65V • Activate CO2 laser using Labview program, and observe fiber transmission vs. time. Power Power Drop +1.95 dBm • Calculate Splice Loss. -2.12dBm Splice complete -5.1 dBm Stuffing Stroke Time
Procedure (cont.) • Check splice strength ~ “Break Radius.” BR = (L1+ L2) / (2*π) L1+ L2 =circumference
Challenges • Problem #1: Fiber Slipping during Stuffing Stroke. • Problem #2: Fragile splices. - sticky rubber on clamps - fiber length
ZnSe windows Translation Stage Fixed Clamp ZnSe Lens ZnSe Window
In Vacuum Chamber without ZnSe windows at atmospheric pressure Splice Loss -0.07 dBm => “Perfect” splice With ZnSe windows in Splice Loss +0.55 dBm + 2.235 dBm Break Radius +0.76 cm Break Radius +1.37cm +0.27cm Results
Future of the project • Splice SMF to SMF inside vacuum chamber with air in and lower power. • Splice SMF to SMF with air pumped out. • Splice SMF to PBGF and create acetylene cell.
Special Thanks =) • Dr. Kristan Corwin • Mr. Mike Wells • LUMOS Group (Rajesh Thapa, Kevin Knabe, and Andrew Jones) • Dr. Larry Weaver • NSF/REU/Physics Department • Aaron Pung, Matt Wood, and Greg Johnson