Polymer optical fiber fuse

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fuse phenomenon in polymer optical fibers, revealing significantly slower propagation speeds and different behaviors compared to silica fibers, along with practical termination methods and potential plasma applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental characterization of fuse properties in polymer optical fibers, including propagation velocity, threshold power density, and a novel fuse termination method.

Findings

Fuse propagation velocity is 21.9 mm/s, much slower than silica fibers.

Threshold power density is 1/186 of silica fibers.

An oscillatory curve forms after fuse passage, not voids.

Abstract

Although high-transmission-capacity optical fibers are in demand, the problem of the fiber fuse phenomenon needs to be resolved to prevent the destruction of fibers. As polymer optical fibers become more prevalent, clarifying their fuse properties has become important. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a fuse propagation velocity of 21.9 mm/s, which is 1 to 2 orders of magnitude slower than that in standard silica fibers. The achieved threshold power density and proportionality constant between the propagation velocity and the power density are respectively 1/186 of and 16.8 times the values for silica fibers. An oscillatory continuous curve instead of periodic voids is formed after the passage of the fuse. An easy fuse termination method is presented herein, along with its potential plasma applications.