Optische Verbindung

An physical-contact optical fiber connector for optical fibers has improved long-term stability. The fiber surface ends of the optical fibers are coated with a thin, absorption-free film made of very hard material, whereby the resistance to scoring is considerably increased. The thickness of the protective film is such that interfering reflection losses due to differences in the refraction indices are largely avoided. The hardness of the film is greater than that of the optical fiber material. Its optical thickness is also small compared to the operating wavelength. For optical fibers made of quartz glass, a protective film of Al2O3 is used. Other oxides, nitrides borides, and carbides are also used. For optical fibers made of multicomponent glass or plastic, the protective film is made of an absorption-free material of greater hardness. The optical thickness of the protective film is between +E,fra 1/1000+EE and +E,fra 1/10+EE of the operating wavelength. The films are applied using ion-supported processes or ion-beam sputtering or the MicroPlasma process. Due to the small diameter of the rods, a large number can be placed into the coating system and coated at the same time. Thus physical-contact optical fiber connectors are obtained that have virtually unlimited service life and have extremely small insertion losses or connection losses.