3SAE CMS

The 3SAE Combiner Manufacturing System (CMS) is a fiber processing system enabling tapering, cleaving, fiber splicing and the creation of fiber bundles.

Highly repeatable glass-processing heat source, ideal for high-volume production of optical components, with an operating range from ~300°C to >3000°C.
An unmatched heat source delivers circumferential thermal uniformity for symmetric, very-low-loss fiber tapering and reduces thermal stress on components.
Contamination-free heat source capable of producing ultra-robust, multi-kilowatt-class optical components.
Shortest cycle times, based on averaged standard fiber splicing and tapering cycle times.
Built-in electrode cooling system in the Ring of Fire® system and electrical components.

The 3SAE Combiner Manufacturing System (CMS) is a fiber processing system designed to maintain production-level repeatability of spliced fiber-optic components. CMS applications include tapering, cleaving, fiber splicing and the creation of fiber bundles. The CMS uses 3SAE Thermally Stabilized Ring of Fire® plasma technology and achieves best-in-class optical performance, process cycle time and component cleanliness.

CMS – One device, many applications

The 3SAE Combiner Manufacturing Station (CMS) uses the 3SAE-patented Ring of Fire® heat source, which provides circumferential heating around the fiber or optical component being processed in the CM. This enables uniform heating around the fiber, as well as a very narrow heat source along the fiber axis. The Ring of Fire® heat source is capable of producing an electric arc just 300um wide, which is ideal for splicing photonic-crystal fibers (PCF) with little or no collapse of the internal air-clad structures. The Ring of Fire® arc can also be pulsed to increase the mechanical strength of PCF fibers while preventing absorption or penetration of the internal structure. The CMS uses 3SAE-patented Ring of Fire® technology for uniform heating, producing uniform fiber tapers. In addition, it performs world-class fiber end-cap splices by leveraging circumferential heat uniformity while minimizing the mechanical stress induced by other thermally non-symmetric heat sources.

The Combiner Manufacturing Station (CMS) can also operate in a partial vacuum, which is beneficial in the production of adiabatic fiber tapers. Operating the 3SAE-patented “Thermally Stabilized Plasma™” technology in a partial vacuum allows the plasma field width to be expanded up to 10x along the fiber axis. Heat sources with a broader thermal profile are better for tapering and bundling optical fibers, because the pull distance per unit time is distributed across the molten region according to the profile. Narrow profiles create modulations and stress concentrations that cause optical loss. The wider 3SAE plasma field flattens and reduces the modulation frequency, resulting in optical losses below 1% in tapered fibers.

Because the plasma is thermally stabilized, any other process variations, such as electrode wear, will adjust the plasma volume rather than change its temperature. For this reason, “Thermally Stabilized Plasma™” offers 10 times greater thermal repeatability compared to any previously existing arc technology, along with software-adjustable width and intensity.

An additional benefit of operating in a partial vacuum is minimizing electrode oxidation during fiber splicing and tapering processes. This results in virtually contamination-free splices and fiber tapers. High-power test data has proven that the Ring of Fire® does not contaminate the fiber surface, eliminating the need for etching and reducing production and rework costs.

Key features:

Highly repeatable glass-processing heat source, ideal for high-volume production of optical components, with an operating range from ~300°C to >3000°C.
An unmatched heat source delivers circumferential thermal uniformity for symmetric, very-low-loss fiber tapering and reduces thermal stress on components.
Contamination-free heat source capable of producing ultra-robust, multi-kilowatt-class optical components.
Shortest cycle times, based on averaged standard fiber splicing and tapering cycle times.
Built-in electrode cooling system in the Ring of Fire® system and electrical components.
Automatic Pitch and Yaw alignment with a resolution of <0.01 degrees, taper pre-alignment, fiber-to-fiber alignment, fiber end-cap splicing.
Orthogonal views using a 5mp vision system with telecentric lenses providing a field of view 4.2 mm wide x 3.5 mm high and up to 20 frames per second.
Live process monitoring through full-resolution video imaging of the molten glass without underexposure or overexposure.
The built-in cleaver handles fibers with diameters from 20 um to 500 um.
Capability to splice and taper fibers with diameters from 125 um to 2 mm.
Scanning software allows the fiber diameter to be scanned before or after fiber splicing or tapering.
Automatically records splice images before, during and after the splice, together with splice data and the program file for each splice.
“Hot Imaging” provides a live preview during real-time fiber splicing processing.
PCF fibers can be spliced with little or no collapse of the air holes.
X and Y fiber positioning resolution <50nm at a full travel of 12mm.
Taper length up to 150 mm supported in bidirectional mode.*
Taper length up to 90 mm supported in unidirectional mode.*
“Table Based Tapering™” software for creating unidirectional, bidirectional or custom-algorithm fiber tapers with near-infinite engineering-level process control.

* Dependent on the fiber taper ratio.

** The user can adjust the position of both fiber stages, the position of the heating zone and the arc power setting 20 times per second throughout the entire process.

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