Polishing sheet equipped with nano-silica polishing particles, and polishing method and manufacturing method for optical fiber connector using polishing sheet

Abstract

A polishing sheet capable of reducing recesses formed at the core of the end surface of an optical fiber, and a manufacturing method for an optical fiber connector using the polishing sheet are provided. The method includes a step of the final polishing of an optical fiber ferrule assembly in which an optical fiber protrudes from the end surface of a ferrule, the protruding optical fiber having a recess in the tip end core. During the final polishing step, the optical fiber having the recess in the core is inserted into a flocked portion of a flocked polishing sheet. The optical fiber ferrule assembly and the flocked polishing sheet are disposed opposite one another and moved relatively to each other in order to polish the optical fiber. Fibers constituting the flocked portion have silica particles with an average particle diameter from 0.01 m to 0.1 m adhered to the surface.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber connector having optical fibers attached to a ferrule comprising: flat surface polishing for polishing an end face of an optical fiber ferrule assembly into a flat surface; protruding optical fibers to predetermined heights from the end face of the ferrule by preferentially polishing the end face of the ferrule of the optical fiber ferrule assembly formed by the flat surface polishing, resulting in optical fibers having recesses with an average depth d1 at their tip cores; polishing for reducing flaws at end portions of the optical fibers of the optical fiber ferrule assembly formed by the protruding, resulting in optical fibers having recesses with an average depth d2 at their tip cores; polishing to finish the optical fiber ferrule assembly formed by the polishing for reducing flaws; wherein the polishing to finish is performed by moving the optical fiber ferrule assembly and a flocked polishing sheet relative to each other while the optical fiber ferrule assembly and the flocked polishing sheet are disposed opposite to each other and while the optical fibers having the core recesses are inserted into a flocked portion of the flocked polishing sheet, the fibers which constitute the flocked portion having silica particles attached to the surfaces of the fibers so as to reduce an average depth of the recesses to be lower than the average depth d1 and/or d2 in the polishing to finish, the silica particles having an average particle diameter in the range of 0.01 m to 0.1 m.

2. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein, after first polishing to finish, the average depth of recesses is reduced as compared to that after polishing for reducing flaws, and after second polishing to finish, the average depth of recesses is reduced as compared to that after the protruding.

3. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber connector as set forth in claim 2, wherein, in the polishing for reducing flaws, optical fibers formed by the protruding are polished using a polishing material with aluminum oxide particles having an average particle diameter of 1 m.

4. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein the optical fiber connector is a multiple multimode fiber connector in which a plurality of multimode fibers are attached to the ferrule.

5. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein, after the polishing to finish, the depth of the recess at the tip core of the optical fiber is 20 nm or less.

6. A method of polishing an optical fiber ferrule assembly, comprising: flat surface polishing for polishing an end face of an optical fiber ferrule assembly into a flat surface; protruding optical fibers to predetermined heights from the end face of the ferrule by preferentially polishing the end face of the ferrule of the optical fiber ferrule assembly formed by the flat surface polishing, resulting in optical fibers having recesses with an average depth d1 at their tip cores; polishing for reducing flaws at end portions of the optical fibers of the optical fiber ferrule assembly formed by the protruding, resulting in optical fibers having recesses with an average depth d2 at their tip cores; polishing to finish an optical fiber ferrule assembly formed by the polishing for reducing flaws; wherein the polishing to finish is performed by moving the optical fiber ferrule assembly and a flocked polishing sheet relative to each other while the optical fiber ferrule assembly and the flocked polishing sheet are disposed opposite to each other and while the optical fibers having the core recesses are inserted into a flocked portion of the flocked polishing sheet; wherein the fibers which constitute the flocked portion have silica particles attached to the surfaces of the fibers, so as to reduce average depth of the recesses to be lower than the average depth d1 and/or d2 in the polishing to finish, the silica particles having an average particle diameter in the range of 0.01 m to 0.1 m.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1(b) schematically show respective optical fiber ferrule assemblies before and after removing the epoxy adhesive.

(2) FIGS. 2(a), (b), (c) and (d) schematically illustrate parts of the optical fiber ferrule assemblies and the side views of the enlarged fiber ends after each polishing process.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a polishing apparatus of an embodiment used in the polishing method of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4A schematically shows a polishing sheet for a finish polishing according to the present invention.

(5) FIG. 4B is an enlarged photograph of the polishing sheet according to the present invention, observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

(6) FIG. 5 shows enlarged photographs of the fiber end faces after each of the polishing processes, observed by an optical microscope.

(7) FIG. 6 shows 3D graphics of the shape of each optical fiber tip after each polishing process.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(8) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings are for explanation, and the dimensions therein, such as thickness, may be exaggerated. The scale of the drawings may vary. The same symbol may be used for a similar or corresponding component. The configurations described in the drawings are given by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

(9) FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a known polishing apparatus 500 used for polishing the end faces of ferrules of PC-connectable optical fiber connectors. The polishing apparatus 500 includes a ferrule holding plate 501 on which a plurality of optical fiber ferrule assemblies Fs and the like can be mounted, a disc-shaped polishing platen 502 arranged to oppose the ferrule holding plate 501, and a pressure mechanism 503 for pressing the ferrule holding plate 501 against the polishing platen 502 with a predetermined pressing force. For example, the ferrule holding plate 501 is formed substantially like a regular octagon. On the outer periphery of the plate, a plurality of ferrule fitting grooves to which the optical fiber ferrule assemblies Fs can be fitted are formed at a predetermined angular interval. The optical fiber ferrule assembly F is fitted into the ferrule fitting groove before it is fixed to the ferrule holding plate 501 using the fixing plate 504. The optical fiber ferrule assembly has different fiber projecting lengths and shapes of fiber end faces in each of the polishing stages.

(10) On the surface of the polishing platen 502, a polishing sheet A appropriately selected according to the polishing stage is arranged via a polishing pad such as a glass pad. During the polishing process, the polishing platen 502 is rotationally driven, for example, in a direction indicated by the outline arrow in FIG. 3, by a rotary drive mechanism (not shown) and is revolved with a predetermined locus with respect to the ferrule holding plate 501 by a relative moving mechanism (not shown). Using such polishing apparatus 500, each of the ferrule end faces and the end faces of the optical fibers projecting from respective ferrule end faces are polished by rotating and revolving the polishing platen 502 with the pressure mechanism 503 which presses the end faces of the respective optical fiber ferrule assemblies Fs against the polishing sheet A on the polishing platen 502.

(11) Regarding the stages of polishing, initially, a flat surface polishing process is performed. FIG. 1 (a) shows an optical fiber ferrule assembly F which is to be polished in the flat surface polishing. In the optical fiber ferrule assembly F, the optical fibers 20s of the optical fiber tape 13 inserted into the ferrule 11 are fixed to the ferrule 11 by an epoxy adhesive 12. The epoxy adhesive 12 overflows to the end face E of the ferrule and substantially covers a plurality of (for example, eight) optical fibers 20s. The flat surface polishing process is performed so as to remove the epoxy adhesive 12 and the optical fibers 20s, both of which protrude from the end face E. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), an optical fiber ferrule assembly 100 having an end face E is formed after the flat surface polishing process. The end face E is substantially flat. The projecting height of the fiber 20 is about 0 nm to several hundred nm. The end face E may have a pair of pin holes 14s for pin fitting the MT connector.

(12) An abrasive which contains abrasive particles of relatively large particle size can be used for the flat surface polishing process. Such abrasive may include a polishing sheet which contains abrasive particles having an average particle size of about 10 to 30 m, the abrasive particles being fixed to a base sheet using a binder resin. Examples of abrasive particles include silicon carbide, diamond, and aluminum oxide. For example, a flat surface polishing process may be performed using a polishing sheet having silicon carbide (SC) particles having an average particle diameter of 16 m fixed on the base sheet with a binder resin.

(13) After the flat surface polishing, a protruding process for protruding the optical fibers to predetermined heights from the end face of the ferrule is performed. FIG. 2 (a) schematically shows a part of optical fiber ferrule assembly 101 formed by the protruding process. When the end face E (FIG. 1) of the optical fiber ferrule assembly 100 is abutted on a given polishing sheet to be polished, the sheet being disposed on the polishing platen 502 of the polishing apparatus 500, the polishing amount of the ferrule 11 becomes larger than the polishing amount of the optical fiber 20, since the ferrule 11 is made of a soft material such as resin and each optical fiber 20 is made of a hard material such as quartz glass. Therefore, the optical fiber ferrule assembly 101 has fibers 20s protruding from the ferrule end face E formed by polishing. Each optical fiber 20 has a projecting height h1 (1000 nm<h13000 nm) which is suitable for PC connection.

(14) Examples of an abrasive for the protruding process may include a polishing sheet or a flocked polishing sheet which contains polishing particles having an average particle size of about 2 to 9 m, the polishing particles being adhered to a base sheet or a plurality of fibers flocked on a base sheet with a binder resin. Examples of polishing particles include silicon carbide, diamond, aluminum oxide, and the like. For example, a protruding process may be performed using a polishing sheet which contains silicon carbide (SC) particles having an average particle size of about 3 m, the particles being fixed on a base sheet with a binder resin.

(15) FIG. 2 on the right shows an enlarged side view of the end S1 of the fiber 20. The central portion indicated by a broken line is a core 21 inside the fiber, and the outer peripheral portion is a clad 22. After polishing, the fiber 20 has a reduced projecting height and a recess in the core portion, the recess being dented by a depth d1 (indicated by a broken line). The depth of the recess of the core portion (core dip) may be defined, using as a reference height the ridgeline of the core recess, as the length of the straight line which is drawn vertically from a reference line (a reference plane) passing through the ridgeline to the deepest portion of the core recess. It should be noted that the actual recess is minute (the depth is about several tens to hundreds nm), however, the figure is exaggerated for explanation. Generally, the core 21 of the optical fiber 20 is made of quartz glass (SiO2) doped with germanium (GeO2), and the clad 22 is made of quartz glass (SiO2), and therefore, the clad 22 is higher in hardness than the core 21. When polishing is performed for protruding, the polishing amount of the core 21 is larger than that of the clad 22, and the recess is formed.

(16) Following the protruding process, a process for removing flaws is performed. FIG. 2 (b) shows the optical fiber ferrule assembly 102 formed by the process for removing flaws. The optical fiber ferrule assembly 102 has the optical fiber 20 protruding from a ferrule end face E by a height h2 (1000 nm<h2<3000 nm) which is slightly lower than h1. The height h2 is formed by polishing the end face of the ferrule together with the fiber; however, in the process for removing flaws or the like performed after the protruding process, the polishing amount of the ferrule end face may be reduced. Flaws such as minute scratches may be reduced at the end portion S2 of the optical fiber formed by the process of removing flaws; however, the core portion has a recess with a depth d2 (>d1).

(17) A polishing material for the process of removing flaws may include a (flocked) polishing sheet containing polishing particles having an average particle size of about 1 to 3 m, the particles being fixed on a base sheet with a binder resin. Examples of polishing particles include silicon carbide, diamond, aluminum oxide, and the like. For example, a polishing sheet prepared by fixing aluminum oxide (AA) particles on a base sheet with a binder resin can be used for polishing after the protruding process and before the finish polishing process, the aluminum oxide (AA) particles having an average particle diameter of about 1 m.

(18) Following the above removing process, the finish polishing process for polishing the fiber end face S2 into a mirror surface is performed.

(19) Cerium oxide (CeO2) has been used for a polishing of glass for a long time. As it became more important to polish glass made of SiO2, researches on polishing particles to achieve desired polishing were actively conducted. As a result, it is considered that chemical action takes place between CeO2 abrasive grains and the glass, and that CeO2 abrasive grains directly react with SiO2 which is a polishing object, thereby achieving a higher polishing rate than in polishing performed using other polishing materials such as SiO2.

(20) Thus, cerium oxide (CeO2) (flocked) polishing film and the like have been conventionally used for the finish polishing process of fibers in manufacturing MT connectors, MPO connectors and the like. Polishing by using loose abrasives may achieve mechanochemical polishing with various oxide slurries; however, the postprocess for treating slurry increases. Therefore, for the most part, cerium oxide fixed abrasive grains have been used.

(21) However, when cerium fixed abrasive grains are used, selective polishing in a multi-mode fiber core is predominantly performed due to the chemical polishing action, and as a result, there is a problem that the concave shape of the end face of the fiber, namely, the core dip, increases. The core dip greatly relates to the optical characteristics of the product. The larger the core dip, the more the communication or optical characteristics are impaired.

(22) In order to reduce the core dip of the quartz glass fiber, the inventor uses SiO2 as the fixed polishing particles so that the physical polishing action can be utilized. The inventor has found that, when polishing is performed by using SiO2 fine abrasive grains fixed to flocked fibers, selective and excessive polishing in the fiber core can be prevented while achieving a sufficient polishing rate and polishing accuracy.

(23) FIG. 4A schematically illustrates the polishing sheet 30 used for the finish polishing according to the present invention. The polishing sheet 30 comprises a base sheet 31 and nanosilica polishing particles 33 fixed to the surfaces of a plurality of fibers 32 with a binder resin, the fibers being flocked on the base sheet.

(24) The variety of silica may include dry synthetic silica, wet synthetic silica, synthetic crystalline silica, natural crystalline silica and natural amorphous silica. Colloidal silica obtained by wet synthetic sol-gel method is preferably used.

(25) The average particle diameter of the silica polishing particles 33 is preferably in the range of 0.01 m to 0.1 m. If the average particle diameter is less than 0.01 m, the polishing rate will be too low. An average particle diameter exceeding 0.1 m is not preferable because the desired mirror finish cannot be achieved and because the effect of reducing the recess becomes insufficient. More preferably, the average particle diameter of the silica polishing particles is in the range of 0.01 m to 0.02 m. By performing finish polishing using a flocked polishing sheet provided with such nanosilica polishing particles, an MM fiber can be obtained in which the depth of the recess at the fiber end face is substantially reduced as compared with that in the previous process and which has excellent optical characteristics.

(26) The nanosilica flocked polishing sheet according to the present invention can be prepared by coating a flocked sheet with a coating which can be obtained by mixing and stirring nanosilica polishing particles, a binder resin, etc., and adjusting the viscosity thereof.

(27) The flocked sheet to be coated with the coating can be prepared by disposing a base sheet coated with an adhesive on the surface and short fibers in an electric field and by adhering the electrostatically charged short fibers to the surface of the base sheet. Since the short fibers are charged to the same polarity, the short fibers can be flocked on the base sheet without adhering to each other.

(28) The coating is prepared by mixing nanosilica dispersion liquid with a binder resin and a curing agent so that the weight ratio within the coating after drying is within a predetermined range, and stirring and filtering them. And then, the viscosity can be adjusted to 300 cp or less with a mixed solvent of toluene, xylene, ethyl acetate, and MEK. When the viscosity exceeds 300 cp, the fluidity deteriorates with increase in viscosity, and silica particles cannot spread to the inside of the flocked layer, which is not preferable. The viscosity of the coating may be adjusted to 1 to 300 cp, preferably 1 to 150 cp and more preferably 2 to 20 cp. Thus, the silica particles are distributed to the inside of the flocked portion, and the nanosilica polishing particles can be effectively applied to the optical fibers inserted into the flocked portion.

(29) A woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, or a plastic film sheet can be used as the base sheet for the flocked sheet. Preferably, a plastic film sheet is used as the base sheet for the flocked sheet. Examples of a plastic film sheet include PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), PPS (polyphenylene sulfide), PEI (polyether imide), PI (polyimide), PI (polycarbonate), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PP (polypropylene), PVDC (polyvinylidene chloride), nylon, PE (polyethylene), or PES (polyether sulfone) film sheet.

(30) The flock may consist of nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, acrylic, polyvinyl chloride, vinylon or rayon fiber, glass fiber, carbon fiber or metal fiber. Preferably, the thickness of the flock is in the range of 0.1 to 10 d, and its length is in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 mm, because if the fibers are too thick or too short, they lack elasticity, and because if the fibers are too fine or too long, the fibers are twisted together and polishing particles cannot be attached to each of the fibers one by one.

(31) The binder may be polyester resin, polyurethane resin, vinyl copolymerized resin, epoxy resin, phenol resin, a mixture thereof reacting with a curing agent, or water soluble resin.

(32) Polishing is performed by placing the nanosilica flocked sheet according to the present invention on the polishing platen 502 of the polishing apparatus 500 and bringing it in contact with the end face of the fiber ferrule assembly while moving the sheet and the end face relative to each other. It is perceived that the end portion of each optical fiber enters the inside or near the root part of the flocked portion so that the fiber can be successively polished from its side surface and there is no chemical action like cerium oxide, thereby suppressing the selective polishing of the core.

(33) Referring to FIG. 2 (c), the end S3 of each fiber 20 of the optical fiber assembly 103 has a core dip with a reduced depth d3 on average as compared to d2, the end S3 being formed by a finish polishing (a first finishing process) using the polishing sheet 30. Each optical fiber 20 has a projecting height h3 (1000 nm<h3<3000 nm) which is slightly lower than h2.

(34) Further, a finishing process (a second finishing process) is performed to finally form the end S4 of each optical fiber 20 of the optical fiber ferrule assembly 104 (the optical fiber connector). The depth of the core dip at the end S4 can be reduced to a depth d4 of approximately several to ten oddnanometers. The projecting height h4 (1000 nm<h4<3000 nm) of the fiber is lower than h3. Each of the projecting heights h1, h2, h3, and h4 is in the range of 1000 to 3000 nm, and is set to a projecting height suitable for connection through the polishing processes.

(35) Polishing tests were performed on a multiple MM fiber ferrule assembly in which twelve 50 m MM fibers were attached to the ferrule by using the polishing films of the comparative example and the example. The conditions of each polishing process are as shown in Table 1 below.

(36) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Rotational Pressing Polishing Polishing speed force time Process sheet (rpm) (lb) (sec) Removing SC sheet 120 4 45 epoxy Polishing for SC sheet 80 6 120 protruding Removing AA sheet 120 9 120 flaws Finish CeO2 flocked 100 8 120 polishing sheet or (first) nanosilica flocked sheet Finish CeO2 flocked 100 8 120 polishing sheet or (second) nanosilica flocked sheet
Polishing apparatus: Optical fiber polishing apparatus (HDC-5200: manufactured by Domaille)
Water for polishing: distilled water
Polishing pad: glass pad

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE

(37) As the polishing sheet of the comparative example, a cerium oxide-flocked sheet was used for the finish polishing processes 1 and 2. The cerium oxide-flocked sheet of the comparative example was prepared by attaching cerium oxide particles having an average particle diameter of 1 m to nylon pile (thickness: 1 d, length: 0.4 mm) flocked on a PET base material with a binder made of polyester resin formulated with isocyanate curing agent.

EXAMPLE

(38) The flocked polishing sheet for a finish polishing of the example was prepared by coating nylon pile (thickness: 1 d, length: 0.4 mm) adhered to the surface of a PET base material with a coating. The coating was prepared as follows. Colloidal silica dispersion (silica particle diameter: 10 to 20 nm) having a solid content weight of 40%, a bisphenol A epoxy resin and a phenol-based curing agent are mixed so that the weight ratio within the coating after drying is 60 to 98% of silica, 1 to 30% of epoxy resin and 1 to 10% of phenol-based curing agent, before being stirred and filtered. And then, viscosity is adjusted to 4 cp with a mixed solvent of toluene, xylene, ethyl acetate, and MEK. The coating was coated on flocked fibers using a gravure roller.

(39) FIG. 4B shows a photograph, taken by a scanning electron microscope (JSM 5510: manufactured by JEOL) and enlarged to 250 times, of the prepared polishing sheet. It can be seen that the nanosilica polishing particles have spread to the interior of the flocked portion and attached to the fiber surface.

(40) FIG. 5 shows an enlarged photograph of the end face of the MM fibers after each polishing process, the photograph being taken by an end view observer (Westover FV 400: manufactured by JDSU). It can be seen that smoother end faces were formed by using the SiO2 flocked sheet of the example compared with the CeO2 flocked sheet of the comparative example.

(41) After each process, the projecting height of each optical fiber and the depth of the core dip of each optical fiber were measured using an end face shape measuring device (SMX-8 QM-B: manufactured by SUMIX) (FIG. 6). Based on the IEC 61755-3 standard, the depth of the core dip was determined by measuring the length of a straight line which was drawn vertically from a reference line, which is a straight line passing through the ridgeline of the recess of the core in the fiber tip, to the deepest part of the recess of the core.

(42) The measurement results using the polishing sheet of the comparative example are shown in Table 2 below.

(43) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Fiber projecting height Core dip depth Process (nm) (nm) After polishing for About 2100 to 2200 About 15 to 40 protruding After polishing for About 1950 to 2100 About 35 to 55 removing flaws Comparative example: About 1700 to 1800 About 55 to 70 After finish polishing 1 Comparative example: About 1600 to 1700 About 85 to 100 After finish polishing 2

(44) The measurement results using the polishing sheet of the example are shown in Table 3 below.

(45) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Fiber projecting height Core dip depth Process (nm) (nm) After polishing for About 2100 to 2200 About 15 to 40 protruding After polishing for About 1950 to 2100 About 35 to 55 removing flaws Example: About 1800 to 1950 About 20 to 50 After finish polishing 1 Example: About 1750 to 1900 About 5 to 20 After finish polishing 2

(46) As shown in Tables 2 and 3 and FIG. 6, the end face of the MM fiber formed by the finish polishing using the polishing sheet of the example had a reduced depth of the core dip as compared to that after polishing using the polishing sheet having aluminum oxide polishing particles. The average depth of the core dips of the twelve optical fibers was about 36 nm after the first finish polishing process and about 11 nm (the shallowest is about 4 nm) after the second finish polishing process. Generally, after the first finish polishing process, the depth of the core dip was reduced as compared to that after the scratch removal polishing process, and after the second finish polishing process, the depth of the core dip was reduced as compared to that after the polishing for protruding process.

(47) In the finish polishing using the cerium oxide flocked sheet of the comparative example, the depth of the core dip was increased as compared to that in the previous process and the depth was further increased in the second finish polishing. The average depth of the core dips of the twelve optical fibers was about 62 nm after the first finish polishing process and about 92 nm (the deepest was about 97 nm) after the second finish polishing process.

(48) The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design changes can be made depending on the application without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

(49) 11 Ferrule 20 Optical fiber 101 Optical fiber ferrule assembly 1 102 Optical fiber ferrule assembly 2 103 Optical fiber ferrule assembly 3 104 Optical fiber ferrule assembly 4