A system forms, at an end of a multifiber ribbon cable, a multifiber ribbon cable segment having an enlarged core-to-core spacing. A UV-transparent mold is mounted on top of a chassis. The mold defines a plurality of individual fiber channels corresponding to individual fibers of the existing multifiber ribbon cable and having a spacing equal to that of the enlarged core-to-core spacing. Each individual fiber channel passes through the internal cavity. The assembled mold further includes an injection system for receiving light curable, flowable material from the reservoir and pumping system and feeding it into the internal cavity, and at least one vent for allowing air to escape from the internal cavity as the light-curable, flowable material is fed into the internal cavity. The injected material is cured by exposure to a curing light.

The present disclosure provides an optical cable. In an embodiment, the optical cable includes an elongated member comprising a matrix material and a plurality of channels extending through the matrix material. The optical cable also includes at least one optical fiber extending through at least one channel.

An optical fiber manufacturing apparatus includes a heating furnace configured to heat and melt an optical fiber preform; a pulling mechanism configured to adjust an outer diameter of a glass optical fiber by drawing out the glass optical fiber from the optical fiber preform melted through the heating by the heating furnace, and to draw the glass optical fiber that has been adjusted in outer diameter; a coating mechanism configured to apply a predetermined resin on an outer circumference of the glass optical fiber that has been adjusted in outer diameter; and a transport mechanism configured to returnably retract the coating mechanism from a passage route of the glass optical fiber.

A system for creating a feedstock line for additive manufacturing of an object comprises a prepreg-tow supply, a prepreg-tow separator, an optical-direction-modifier supply, a combiner, and at least one heater. The prepreg-tow supply dispenses a precursor prepreg tow, comprising elongate filaments and resin. The prepreg-tow separator separates the precursor prepreg tow into individual elongate filaments at least partially covered with the resin. The optical-direction-modifier supply dispenses optical direction modifiers to the elongate filaments. When electromagnetic radiation strikes the outer surface of the optical direction modifiers, at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation departs the outer surface at an angle. The combiner combines the elongate filaments and the optical direction modifiers into a derivative prepreg tow. At least the one heater heats the resin to cause wet-out of the optical direction modifiers and the elongate filaments in the derivative prepreg tow by the resin.

There is provided a plastic optical fiber including a core and at least one layer of a clad formed on an outer circumferential surface of the core, wherein a transmission band is 100 MHz or wider, as measured under conditions of a wavelength of 650 nm and a launch NA=0.65; and a transmission loss is 350 dB/km or less, as measured under conditions of a wavelength of 650 nm and a launch NA=0.1, after exposure to an environment of a temperature of 105 C. for 1000 hours.

A converter plate includes an array of optical fibers arranged axially parallel to each other. The optical fibers have optical properties selected to convert light from a light-emitting diode entering the optical fibers from one end of the array of optical fibers to light of a different wavelength exiting the fibers from another end of the array of optical fibers. The optical properties of some of the optical fibers differ from the optical properties of others of the optical fibers such that the light exiting the some of the optical fibers has a wavelength different from that of the light exiting the others of the optical fibers. The converter plate is manufactured by providing the optical fibers and combining the optical fibers into a bundle, the optical fibers being arranged axially parallel to each other. The bundle of optical fibers is drawn to attenuate the bundle of fibers into a secondary fiber having a reduced cross section. The secondary fiber is wafered into a converter plate that includes an array of the optical fibers arranged axially parallel to each other.

A optoelectronic assembly is provided including a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) including at least one electronic connection element and plurality of waveguides disposed on a PIC face, a printed circuit board (PCB) including at least one PCB electronic connection element, which is complementary to the at least one electronic connection element of the PIC and the PIC is configured to be flip chip mounted to the PCB, a lidless fiber array unit including a support substrate having a substantially flat first surface and a signal fiber array including a plurality of optical fibers supported on the first surface, and an alignment substrate disposed on the PIC face and configured to align the plurality of optical fibers of the signal fiber array with the plurality of waveguides.

Provided is a method for producing a multicore optical fiber (MCF) in which variations in positions of cores relative to the outer shape of the MCF are small. The method includes: an integrating step of heating a common cladding tube and a core rods, thereby integrating the tube with the core rods to form a core-cladding composite body including a plurality of cores and a common cladding and having a noncircular cross-sectional shape; an outline detecting step of detecting the outline of the composite body; an optical fiber preform forming step of machining the outer circumferential surface of the composite body using results obtained in the outline detecting step to form the preform having a flat surface; and a drawing step of drawing one end of the preform under heating to obtain the MCF. Also provided is a MCF for which a rotation alignment operation is easily performed.

An optical coupler that provides evanescent optical coupling includes an optical fiber and a waveguide. The optical fiber has a glass core, a glass inner cladding surrounding the glass core, and a polymeric outer cladding surrounding the glass inner cladding. The glass core and glass inner cladding define for the fiber a glass portion, which can be exposed at one end of the fiber by removing a portion of the polymeric outer cladding. The glass portion has a glass-portion surface. The waveguide has a waveguide core and a surface, and can be part of a photonic device. The glass portion of the fiber is interfaced with the waveguide to establish evanescent coupling between the fiber and the waveguide. Alignment features are used to facilitate aligning the fiber core to the waveguide core during the interfacing process to ensure suitable efficiency of the evanescent coupling.

Refractory anchoring devices include a main body and a mounting feature for mounting to a thermal vessel. The main body has the shape of two end-to-end Y's forming a central segment, two branch segments extending from each end of the central segment, and an extension segment extending from each of the four branch segments, to collectively form four unenclosed cell openings that are each semi-hexagonal in shape. Some embodiments include four reinforcement segments with each one extending into a respective cell opening, four voids with each one extending through respective adjacent branch and extension segments, an underbody gap formed under the central segment for refractory interlinking between cell openings, and/or a single stud-welding stud for the mounting feature. Refractory anchoring systems and methods include an array of the refractory anchoring devices arranged and mounted so that the unenclosed semi-hexagonal cell openings of adjacent anchoring devices cooperatively form substantially hexagonal cells.