Fusion splicing of heavy metal fluoride glass optical fibres

Abstract

Heavy metal fluoride (HMF) glass optical fibres were spliced by fusing the two ends of fibres using a DC arc. An average optical loss of 0.08 dB per splice and strengths of up to 600 M Pa were achieved for fusion splices using an inert gas purge during splicing. Estimates are made to determine the feasibility of achieving a splice loss of 0.005dB for singlemode (HMF) fibres.