Claims
- 1. A method for thermoforming a length of an optical fiber having a first shape, the optical fiber having a cladding material and a core material, said method comprising:
- heating said optical fiber; and
- placing the heated optical fiber in a mold with a cavity that makes a gradual transition along its length from said first shape to a second shape and
- gradually reforming said length of said optical fiber form the end of said optical fiber from said first shape to said second shape in the mold so as to maintain the cross-sectional area of said optical fiber constant thereby maintaining the optical mode volume of said optical fiber to reduce optical loss.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said optical fiber is heated to a temperature above the glass transition temperatures of said cladding and core materials of said optical fiber.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said cladding material is a fluorinated acrylic polymer and said core material is poly(methyl methacrylate).
- 4. The method of claim 2 wherein said first shape is round and said second shape is square.
- 5. The method of claim 2 wherein said first shape is round and said second shape is rectangular.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/788,062, filed on Nov. 5, 1991, now abandoned, which is a division of application Ser. No. 07/590,974, filed on Oct. 1, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,932.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
590974 |
Oct 1990 |
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Continuations (1)
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788062 |
Nov 1991 |
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