A method of producing a capillary tube from glass includes zonally softening a tubular preform having an outer diameter D.sub.OD, an inner diameter D.sub.ID and a diameter ratio D.sub.relwith D.sub.rel=D.sub.OD/D.sub.IDin a heating zone heated to a draw temperature T.sub.draw and drawing off continuously from the softened region a capillary strand having an outer diameter d.sub.AD, an inner diameter d.sub.ID and a diameter ratio d.sub.relwith d.sub.rel=d.sub.OD/d.sub.IDat a draw speed v.sub.draw and cutting the capillary to length therefrom. For cost-effective production of a thick-walled capillary by drawing from a preform without strict requirements for the geometry and dimensional accuracy of the preform, the capillary bore is subjected in the heating zone to a shrinkage process based on the action of draw temperature T.sub.draw and surface tension, such that the diameter ratio d.sub.rel of the capillary strand is adjusted to a value greater than the diameter ratio D.sub.rel of the preform by at least a factor of 5.

A method of producing a capillary tube from glass includes zonally softening a tubular preform having an outer diameter D.sub.OD, an inner diameter D.sub.ID and a diameter ratio D.sub.relwith D.sub.rel=D.sub.OD/D.sub.IDin a heating zone heated to a draw temperature T.sub.draw and drawing off continuously from the softened region a capillary strand having an outer diameter d.sub.AD, an inner diameter d.sub.ID and a diameter ratio d.sub.relwith d.sub.rel=d.sub.OD/d.sub.IDat a draw speed v.sub.draw and cutting the capillary to length therefrom. For cost-effective production of a thick-walled capillary by drawing from a preform without strict requirements for the geometry and dimensional accuracy of the preform, the capillary bore is subjected in the heating zone to a shrinkage process based on the action of draw temperature T.sub.draw and surface tension, such that the diameter ratio d.sub.rel of the capillary strand is adjusted to a value greater than the diameter ratio D.sub.rel of the preform by at least a factor of 5.

Provided is a system for and a method of processing an optical fiber, such as tapering an optical fiber. The method includes receiving fiber parameters defining characteristics of an optical fiber, modeling an idealized fiber based on the fiber parameters to establish modeled data, and establishing processing parameters. A processing operation is performed on the optical fiber according to the processing parameters to produce a resultant fiber. Aspects of the resultant fiber are measured to establish measured data. The measured data and the modeled data are normalized to a common axis and a difference between the two is determined. The processing parameters are adjusted based on the differences.

An optical fiber device may include a unitary core including a primary section and a secondary section, wherein at least a portion of the secondary section is offset from a center of the unitary core, wherein the unitary core twists about an optical axis of the optical fiber device along a length of the optical fiber device, and wherein a refractive index of the primary section is greater than a refractive index of the secondary section; and a cladding surrounding the unitary core.

An optical fiber device may include a unitary core including a primary section and a secondary section, wherein at least a portion of the secondary section is offset from a center of the unitary core, wherein the unitary core twists about an optical axis of the optical fiber device along a length of the optical fiber device, and wherein a refractive index of the primary section is greater than a refractive index of the secondary section; and a cladding surrounding the unitary core.

The present embodiment makes it possible to reduce the height of an optical connection component including a bent optical fiber having a bent-shape part and a fiber fixing component in a safer and more stable manner compared to a conventional technique. Before the fiber fixing component is fixed to the bent optical fiber, formation of a bent portion using the fiber fixing component obliquely disposed and heating of the bent portion are repeated a plurality of times for the optical fiber to which the fiber fixing component is movably fitted. At that time, movement of the optical fiber and the heating of the bent portion are alternately repeated. Thus, a plurality of bent portions where stress is released is formed in the optical fiber along the longitudinal direction thereof.

The present embodiment makes it possible to reduce the height of an optical connection component including a bent optical fiber having a bent-shape part and a fiber fixing component in a safer and more stable manner compared to a conventional technique. Before the fiber fixing component is fixed to the bent optical fiber, formation of a bent portion using the fiber fixing component obliquely disposed and heating of the bent portion are repeated a plurality of times for the optical fiber to which the fiber fixing component is movably fitted. At that time, movement of the optical fiber and the heating of the bent portion are alternately repeated. Thus, a plurality of bent portions where stress is released is formed in the optical fiber along the longitudinal direction thereof.

The present invention discloses a fabrication method and use of a ?40 mm large-size and high-contrast fiber optic image inverter, belonging to the field of manufacturing of fiber optic imaging elements. The light-absorbing glass for preparing the ?40 mm large-size and high-contrast fiber optic image inverter consists of the following components in molar percentage: SiO.sub.2 60-69.9, Al.sub.2O.sub.3 1.0-10.0, B.sub.2O.sub.3 10.1-15.0, Na.sub.2O 1.0-8.0, K.sub.2O 3.0-10.0, MgO 0.1-1.0, CaO 0.5-5.0, ZnO 0-0.1, TiO.sub.2 0-0.1, ZrO.sub.2 0.1-1.0, Fe.sub.2O.sub.3 3.0-6.5, Co.sub.2O.sub.3 0.1-0.5, V.sub.2O.sub.5 0.51-1.5 and MoO.sub.3 0.1-1.0. The fiber optic image inverter has the advantages of low crosstalk of stray light, high resolution and high contrast.

The present invention discloses a fabrication method and use of a ?40 mm large-size and high-contrast fiber optic image inverter, belonging to the field of manufacturing of fiber optic imaging elements. The light-absorbing glass for preparing the ?40 mm large-size and high-contrast fiber optic image inverter consists of the following components in molar percentage: SiO.sub.2 60-69.9, Al.sub.2O.sub.3 1.0-10.0, B.sub.2O.sub.3 10.1-15.0, Na.sub.2O 1.0-8.0, K.sub.2O 3.0-10.0, MgO 0.1-1.0, CaO 0.5-5.0, ZnO 0-0.1, TiO.sub.2 0-0.1, ZrO.sub.2 0.1-1.0, Fe.sub.2O.sub.3 3.0-6.5, Co.sub.2O.sub.3 0.1-0.5, V.sub.2O.sub.5 0.51-1.5 and MoO.sub.3 0.1-1.0. The fiber optic image inverter has the advantages of low crosstalk of stray light, high resolution and high contrast.

A system and method for fabricating an optical element. The method includes welding an array of fibers to the optical element, measuring an angle error and a position error of each fiber, calculating a correction for each fiber for the angle error and the position error and correcting the angle and position of each fiber using the calculated corrections.