A communication enclosure is described that includes an enclosure body having a first body portion and a second body portion. An adapter mounting mechanism is disposed in the first body portion, and a connector adapter mounted into the mounting mechanism that is configured to accept an optical fiber connector. The enclosure includes at least one integrated tool for terminating field mountable optical fiber connectors wherein the at least one integrated tool is disposed on one of the first body portion and the second body portion. In an exemplary aspect, the at least one integrated tool is a connector polishing platform.

Sol-gel methods, apparatus and compositions for cladding optical fiber cores provide optical fibers, including single crystal optical fiber cores with polycrystalline cladding, having improved performance in a variety of applications, such as fiber lasers.

Provided with an optical fiber ferrule polishing holder capable of making a polishing length of an optical fiber constant and adjusting the polishing length easily and an optical fiber ferrule polishing machine on which the holder can be installed. An optical fiber ferrule polishing holder used for polishing an optical fiber including: a holder body to which the optical fiber can be fixed; a movable member configured to be moved in a vertical direction with respect to a bottom surface of the holder body; and a position adjusting member configured to adjust a position of the movable member in the vertical direction.

A grinder for grinding an end face of a fiber includes a housing, a fiber fixing module, a base, a transmission shaft, and a grinding pad. The housing includes an annular rack wheel with an internal engaging teeth. The fiber fixing module is positioned on a top of the housing. The base is positioned at a bottom of the housing and includes an eccentric connection portion. An end of the transmission shaft is connected to the connection portion. The transmission shaft is sleeved with an annular pinion having external engaging teeth engaging with the internal engaging teeth. The grinding pad is connected to another end of the transmission shaft and revolves around the rotation axis of the base and rotates around its own rotation axis together with the transmission shaft and matches an end face of a to-be-ground fiber penetrating the fiber fixing module.

A polishing apparatus is disclosed. The polishing apparatus has a base, a carrier, an elevating mechanism, a pressing mechanism, and a polishing mechanism. The carrier has a plurality of work pieces disposed thereon. The elevating mechanism is mounted on the base and has a pair of positioning plates. The carrier is disposed on the pair of positioning plates. The pressing mechanism is mounted on the base and has a pair of pressing heads each including an arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each of a pair of opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of positioning plates. The polishing mechanism is mounted on the base and polishes the plurality of work pieces.

Devices and methods for optical-fiber processing for connector applications are disclosed, wherein the devices and methods utilize a quantum cascade laser operated under select processing parameters to carry out end face polishing. The method includes supporting the optical fiber in a ferrule so that a bare end section of the fiber protrudes from an end of the ferrule by a protrusion distance. The method then includes irradiating the end face with light from the quantum cascade laser to polish the end face. The quantum cascade laser can also be used to form a bump in a central portion of the end face, wherein the bump facilitates physical contact between respective end faces of connected optical fibers.

The polishing amount of an optical fiber component can be measured directly, accurately and easily in a real-time mode during polishing, regardless of the polishing amount of a ferrule. Provided is a method for measuring the polishing amount of an optical fiber component while performing polishing, the method including: branching an inspection light among a reference optical path having a variable optical path length, an optical fiber component being measured, and a comparison optical path, and determining a polishing amount of the optical fiber component by a change amount of a difference Lc between a reference optical path length when return light of the reference optical path interferes with return light of the optical fiber component being measured and a reference optical path length when the return light of the reference optical path interferes with return light of the comparison optical path.

A grinder for grinding an end face of a fiber includes a housing, a fiber fixing module, a base, a transmission shaft, and a grinding pad. The housing includes an annular rack wheel with an internal engaging teeth. The fiber fixing module is positioned on a top of the housing. The base is positioned at a bottom of the housing and includes an eccentric connection portion. An end of the transmission shaft is connected to the connection portion. The transmission shaft is sleeved with an annular pinion having external engaging teeth engaging with the internal engaging teeth. The grinding pad is connected to another end of the transmission shaft and revolves around the rotation axis of the base and rotates around its own rotation axis together with the transmission shaft and matches an end face of a to-be-ground fiber penetrating the fiber fixing module.

A novel optical fiber end structure and method for creating same in which an optical fiber end structure may comprise a cylindrical wedge having a planar surface angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber and a flat surface that is generally perpendicular with the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber. The device and method of the invention may employ a single or plurality of mechanically polished wedges on the end or ends of an optical fiber, which may, in a best mode, be a few mode fiber. The method and device of the invention may be used to independently modulate standing waves or linearly polarized waves, or both, allowing for a modal multiplexed system. The invention radiates independent standing wave modes and/or linearly polarized modes from the dielectric waveguide structure, and may be employed in single, few mode or multimode optical fibers.

Systems and methods for angle polishing of the end faces of a plurality of optical connectors are provided. Systems are provided that include a connector defining a longitudinal axis, and at least two ferrules mounted with respect to the connector and arranged in a side-by-side orientation. The end faces of the connectors are movable relative to the connector and such movement facilitates lateral orientation of the angle polished end faces of the ferrules relative to the connector when in the mating position. Various mechanisms and methods for facilitating movement of the ferrules relative to the connector are disclosed to achieve the desired lateral polish orientation of the ferrule end faces.