Reliability of passive optical fiber components

• Research unit: COST
• Project number: C02.0079

Key words (English)

Reliability; active and passive optical components; optical fibers; fiber Bragg gratings; failure mechanisms; accelerated reliability testing; lifetime

Research programs (English)

COST-Action 270 - Reliability of Optical Components and Devices in Communication Systems and Networks

Short description (English)

It is the aim of this project to investigate the reliability of passive fiber optic components, in particular fibers, fiber Bragg gratings, connectors, etc.

Partners and International Organizations (English)

AT, BE, CY, DK, FR, DE, HU, IT, LV, NL, PL, ES, SE, CH, UK

Abstract (English)

The primary objective is the investigation and optimization of reliability of next generation passive optical components for telecommunication applications. In particular, high optical power aspects are considered, e.g. the refractive index decay in fiber Bragg gratings, the degradation of passive components like connectors, fixed attenuators, or terminators (together with Swiss industry active in COST270) under high optical power. Gratings that have been exposed to high optical power showed decay. To investigate connector, attenuator, terminator reliability we used the optical low coherence reflectometry (OLCR) and fiber Bragg gratings for sensing with micrometer resolution. From the impulse response of fiber gratings exposed to strain or temperature fields we get the local Bragg wavelength which is related to the local strain and/or temperature. The strain fields of two different connector types have been measured (open and mated). The lifetime of FBGs depends on their temperature /time annealing beavior. We investigated the UV induced photoelastic stress distribution using a tomographic polarimeter for different annealing conditions.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C02.0079