In-line production, optronic assembly and packaging of POFs

The importance of optical technology as a key technology is constantly increasing. In application areas, where the conventional use of electrical solutions for signal generation, signal transmission or signal reception is limited due to data transfer rates as well as electromagnetic compatibility, optical waveguide technologies are developed and applied. Optical waveguides, essentially fibre systems, are also used as sensors in many applications for measuring physical properties like temperature and elongation. Using multimode fibres, the variation of light intensity is measured to determine the applied changes on its physical properties. Multimode fibres have an average core diameter of 50 mu m and are easier to handle than single mode optical fibres but they have less sensitivity and a lower measurement range. Three main steps separate production and use of polymer single-mode optical fibres. The first one includes fibre manufacturing methods. Then the necessary length for the sensor application is selected and the ends of the fibre are prepared and polished. The last step involves optronic assembly and packaging, which consists of integrating the optical fibre onto the surface of the element to be measured and coupling it with optronic devices such as the transmitter and receiver of the light signals. In this paper an approach is presented for a production unit, which combines all these three steps together. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.