Angle-Spliced SMF to Hollow Core Fiber Connection with Optimized Back-Reflection and Insertion Loss

Zhang, Cong; Fokoua, Eric Numkam; Fu, Songnian; Ding, Mengxian; Poletti, F.; Richardson, David J.; Slavı́k, Radan

doi:10.1109/jlt.2022.3186721

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…This represents a situation previously published. 25 Here, we see that the coupling efficiency is severely reduced (to 28% in our case) with significant cross-coupling into the LP 11 mode, as expected for a launch in which the input beam is not colinear with the HCF axis. Introducing an optimized offset of 5.7 μm for the considered cleave angle of 6°(as follows from Figure 4), Figure 5c, the low coupling loss is restored, with the coupling efficiency reaching 96% and the cross-coupling into the LP 11 being negligible within the simulation error (below −50 dB, <0.001%).…”

Section: ■ Designsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Previously, we investigated this trade-off in detail, enabling us, for example, to achieve a moderate level of back-reflection of −40 dB with an acceptable level of coupling loss of 1.3 dB. 25 Here, we suggest a method that resolves the abovementioned trade-off, enabling for a spliced SMF−HCF connection that simultaneously has both low loss and low back-reflection. It uses a GRIN mode field adapter, to which the SMF is spliced, with an offset that compensates for the refraction at the angle-cleaved interface.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Splicing Hollow-Core Fiber with Standard Glass-Core Fiber with Ultralow Back-Reflection and Low Coupling Loss

Shi,

Zhang,

Kelly

et al. 2024

ACS Photonics

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A main, yet-unsolved challenge in splicing hollow-core fiber (HCF) into standard single-mode fiber (SMF) systems lies in managing the strong Fresnel back-reflection that occurs when the light travels from the empty core of the HCF into the glass core of the SMF or vice versa. This impacts the performance of fiber systems that combine SMFs and HCFs due to effects such as multipath interference. Here, we demonstrate a new technique that combines angle-cleaving the HCF, which reduces the back-reflection, with offset-splicing the mode-field adapter to the SMF, which compensates for the refraction at the glass–air interface, enabling us to achieve low coupling loss. We first analyze this novel configuration via simulations and show that it is possible to achieve a coupling loss that is comparable to a conventional flat-cleaved splice. Subsequently, we fabricate an SMF–HCF connection with a loss of 0.6 dB prior to arcing (1.2 dB after splicing) and ultralow back-reflection (−64 dB) by applying an optimized 4.5° angle and 5 μm offset. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first low-insertion-loss spliced SMF–HCF connection where a widely acceptable level of back-reflection of <−60 dB is achieved.

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Section: ■ Designsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Splicing Hollow-Core Fiber with Standard Glass-Core Fiber with Ultralow Back-Reflection and Low Coupling Loss

Shi,

Zhang,

Kelly

et al. 2024

ACS Photonics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Fresnel back-reflection can be suppressed by SSMF tapering [18], [20], deposition of anti-reflective (AR) coating [13], [21] and angle-cleaving [22]- [24]. Back-reflection suppression to -27 dB over 390 nm bandwidth (from 1260 nm to 1650 nm) was demonstrated through tapering [18], below -40 dB over 60 nm using AR coating [13], and below -40 dB using 2 • angled interface [24]. The angled interface lowers the back reflection but does not reduce the insertion loss (IL), as the otherwise back-reflected light is deflected out of the waveguides and thus not collected by the HCF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Connecting Hollow-Core and Standard Single-Mode Fibers With Perfect Mode-Field Size Adaptation

Zhong,

Fokoua,

Ding

et al. 2024

J. Lightwave Technol.

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We propose an approach to interconnect a hollowcore fiber (HCF) of arbitrary core size with standard single-mode fiber with perfect mode-field size adaptation and experimentally achieve for the first time insertion loss agreeing with that predicted by simulations. We demonstrate this using three lowloss HCFs, including 1 st window nested antiresonant nodeless fiber (NANF), 2 nd window NANF and the state-of-the-art double NANF (DNANF). The connection with a minimum achieved insertion loss of 0.079 dB was permanently secured via gluing and did not degrade during 4 weeks of continuous measurement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the lowest reported value and is comparable to or lower than the connection between dissimilar single-mode fibers (e.g., standard single-mode fiber and dispersion-compensating fiber). We also show that such connection leads to excellent suppression of higher-order modes coupling, of importance to all applications sensitive to multipath interference. Importantly, obtaining agreement between simulations and experiments validates for the first time the accuracy of the simulations and opens the door to further optimization via simulations with the ability to subsequently achieve the same result experimentally.

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Interconnectivity between effectively single-moded antiresonant hollow core fibres and conventional single-mode fibres

Slavík,

Komanec,

Numkam Fokoua

2023

Optical Fiber Technology

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Angle-Spliced SMF to Hollow Core Fiber Connection with Optimized Back-Reflection and Insertion Loss

Cited by 11 publications

References 23 publications

Splicing Hollow-Core Fiber with Standard Glass-Core Fiber with Ultralow Back-Reflection and Low Coupling Loss

Splicing Hollow-Core Fiber with Standard Glass-Core Fiber with Ultralow Back-Reflection and Low Coupling Loss

Connecting Hollow-Core and Standard Single-Mode Fibers With Perfect Mode-Field Size Adaptation

Interconnectivity between effectively single-moded antiresonant hollow core fibres and conventional single-mode fibres

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