A fiber alignment device is provided that includes a curable refractive index-matching gel that exhibits self-cleaning and self-healing characteristics upon multiple cycles of insertion and removal of an optical fiber.

A pre-fabricated, on-demand interface provides optical coupling between disposable and reusable portions of a fiber-optic probe. The interface uses a pre-cured, compressible optically-transmissive gel in a cavity of the disposable portion, which can be a disposable insertion tip of the fiber optic probe. The disposable portion includes an elongated housing, or sheath, and the cavity is located within and proximal of a distal end of the elongated housing. A proximal end of an optical assembly of the disposable portion is located within the cavity and contacts the gel. A first coupling, provided at a proximal end of the elongated housing, detachably couples to a mating, second coupling of the probe reusable portion. When the disposable and reusable portions are coupled together, the gel is compressed between the proximal end of the optical assembly of the disposable portion and a distal optical member of an optical assembly of the reusable portion.

Aspects and techniques of the present disclosure relates generally to incorporating an index matching gel within a HMFOC such that as the HMFOC is mated, fiber tips protruding from multi-fiber ferrules of the HMFOC pass through the indexing matching gel to remove contaminates therefrom. The present disclosure also relates to a method of removing contaminates from optical fibers upon mating a hardened multi-fiber optical connector (HMFOC) with another HMFOC.

The present disclosure relates to optical fiber coupling systems and methods of coupling optical fibers across and with a magnetic field.

A ferrule structure includes: a holding aperture that holds light guide members forming light guides; a recess that is recessed from a connection end surface with respect to a mating ferrule; a first lens array on a base surface that is a bottom surface of the recess; and a first groove that is recessed from the base surface and is on an outer side of the first lens array. The first lens array includes lenses that are aligned with the light guides.

A ferrule that holds an end part of an optical fiber includes a fiber hole into which the optical fiber is inserted and an upper wall part and a lower wall part that define a hollow adhesive filling part, where the lower wall part faces the upper wall part. The adhesive filling part is filled with an adhesive applied between the optical fiber inserted in the fiber hole and an inner wall surface of the adhesive filling part. The upper wall part has an upper opening through which the adhesive passes into the adhesive filling part, and the lower wall part has a lower opening that ventilates the adhesive filling part to outside of the ferrule.

A protective assembly method using a transparent layer within the fiber interconnect system aids in optical coupling by preventing an air gap from forming between the fiber cores within a connector. A fiber protection device made of a thin transparent film, which includes an adhesive layer, is applied over the fiber end-faces at the connector interface, the film having characteristics which allows it to conform to the fiber end and minimize coupling loss between fibers. According to one aspect, the film is part of a cartridge that provides structural support for the film to facilitate application of the fiber protection device. The film may be divided by perforate patterns that define one or more fiber protection devices formed by the film. The assembly method can include usage of an applicator base plate upon which the cartridge is mounted. According to another aspect, the film may be part of a single-use disposable pod for application of a single fiber protection device.

Systems and apparatuses are disclosed for flexible, mating force-managed optical connections using a plurality of optical connectors and ferrule carrier adapters. Each of the plurality of ferrule carriers comprise a plurality of duplex ferrules disposed within ferrule bays of the ferrule carrier. A bracket of the optical connector gangs the plurality of ferrule carriers together. Ferrule carrier adapters are configured to accept a plurality of optical connectors for inline or orthogonal mating. Each ferrule carrier within the optical connectors is independently floated on the bracket, allowing each ferrule carrier to be mated and demated independently of any other ferrule carrier in the optical connector.

A protective assembly method using a transparent layer within the fiber interconnect system aids in optical coupling by preventing an air gap from forming between the fiber cores within a connector. A thin transparent film (or with adhesive) is placed over the fiber end-faces at the connector interface, the film having characteristics which allows it to conform to the fiber end and minimize coupling loss between fibers. The film is sized to fit connectors faces and can be temporary, being replaced with each installation. A coating can also applied to the connector surface, providing a similar effect, as well as structurally enhancing the connector surfaces.

A ferrule structure includes: a ferrule body including a guide hole that accepts insertion of a guide pin, and a fiber hole that accepts insertion of an optical fiber and that is disposed in an opening surface of the ferrule body; and a lens plate including a guide hole that accepts insertion of the guide pin, a lens part, and an abutment surface that abuts an endface of the optical fiber. A recess is disposed in at least one of the ferrule body and the lens plate. A matching material filling gap, that is to be filled with a refractive index matching material, is formed with the recess, between the opening surface of the ferrule body and the abutment surface of the lens plate.