Tyco Electronics has been awarded United States Patent No. 6,246,026 on the OPTIMATE FIBERSHAPE process, which uses the power of a laser beam to prepare fiber end-faces for termination in connector assemblies and optical devices.
"By using a laser beam, the patented process realizes unprecedented accuracy and versatility in preparing fiber end-face configurations, and leap frogs traditional approaches of mechanically cleaving and polishing a fiber's end," explains Twan Hultermans, global product manager at Tyco Electronics. With its ability to not only cut fiber accurately, but also shape fiber end faces, the OPTIMATE FIBERSHAPE process heralds new ways of terminating optical fibers and packaging optical components, he adds.
Tyco Electronics began pioneering the concept of using a laser to cleave and shape fiber end faces a number of years ago in Holland, say company representatives. Tyco Electronics has now established the OPTIMATE FIBERSHAPE process as a commercially viable means of preparing fibers for termination in connector assemblies and optical packages.
In addition to the US patent, Tyco Electronics has a number of pending application in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East.
Tyco Electronics (Harrisburg, PA) is one of the major business units of Tyco International Ltd. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.tycoelectronics.com.