Optical splicer, optical module, and method of producing optical splicer

Abstract

An optical splicer 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention has a plurality of optical fibers 6, and an optical splice member 8 having a plurality of fiber holes 14 in each of which a portion including one end 6a of each fiber 6 is inserted, and a mode field diameter W1 in one end 6a of optical fiber 6 is enlarged relative to a mode field diameter W2 in the other portion of optical fiber 6.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an optical splicer for splicing optical fibers, an optical module, and a method of producing the optical splicer. [0003] 2. Related Background of the Invention [0004] There are optical splicers for splicing optical fibers by inserting the optical fibers in glass capillaries face to face. [0005] For example, Japanese Patent No. 3154230 describes the optical splicer for splicing a plurality of optical fibers, which comprises a plurality of glass capillaries. In this optical splicer, the central region of each glass capillary is preliminarily filled with an index matching agent. [0006] Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-50219 describes the optical splicer in which a predetermined space is provided between end faces of face-to-face optical fibers and in which the space is filled with an elastic adhesive to effect a splice of the optical fibers. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] In the afore...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an optical splicer capable of reducing the splice loss in collective splicing of multiple optical fibers, an optical module, and a method of producing the optical splicer.

[0019] By this production method, the portions where the mode field diameter is enlarged in the optical fibers are inserted into the fiber holes of the optical splice member. For this reason, where two optical fibers are brought into a face-to-face state in each fiber hole, the optical fibers can be spliced with each other with a low loss even if there is a clearance or axial misalignment due to variations in angles of end faces and in positions of end faces between two facing fibers, as described above. Therefore, the splice loss can be reduced in collective splicing of multiple fibers even if the end faces of the fibers are not cut with high accuracy.

Problems solved by technology

In consequence, a splice loss will be large in the optical splice with partner fibers.

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