During my MCVD years, I actively sought out various add-on control devices to improve our process and fiber quality. In fact, some features were specifically designed for my needs. Here’s a brief overview of recommended options. Read more: “MCVD options: These add-on features can enhance your optical fiber preform strength, yield, and reproducibility.”
- Multichannel gas drier and dew point monitor – Removes moisture from the input gas streams and includes a dew point monitor to track moisture levels.
- Automatic valve leak testing – Cycles each valve in the system in the open and closed position. This reduced our leak test time from 2 days of manual testing to 2 hours of automatic testing.
- Auto-calibration software interface – Gives you absolute clarity on the operation of your mass flow controllers.
- Atmospheric pressure compensation – Modifies the preform recipe to compensate for atmospheric pressure changes.
- Lathe enclosure – Offers a combination of positive pressure and filtered air to reduce particulates, which can cause weak spots in the drawn fiber.
- Supplementary isothermal bubbler heater – Adds heat to the bubbler chemical to compensate for cooling due to the bubbling effect, re-stabilizing the temperature in less than 5 minutes.
- Scanning pyrometer – Ensures the pyrometer is reading the maximum tube temperature to prevent overheating the deposition tube, which can reduce the efficiency of your depositions and potentially cause premature tube shrinkage.
- Diameter control – Gives you a greater ability to control deposition tube diameter from run to run, and within a run.
- Extended bed lathe with motorized tail stock – Allows you to stretch preforms to a smaller diameter, which can have a direct impact on fiber yields.
- Vertical stretch over jacket lathe – Eliminates the gravity issue that causes tubes to sag when you heat them and allows you to process longer preforms.
- Manual lathe control box – Allows you to manually control the burner temperature during setup.Automatic chemical refill system – Mostly takes the operator out of the process, which significantly reduces the chance for errors and introducing moisture into the system.
Additional resources from the FOC team include:
- Category Resource
- View the Glossary, Acronyms, Military Specifications for Connectors
- Q&A Resource: email technical questions to AskFOC@focenter.com
Have questions about this FOC Tip?
Contact FOC with questions at: (800) 473-4237 / 508-992-6464 or email: FiberOpticCenter@focenter.com and we will respond ASAP.
Additional articles from our preform fabrication consultant include:
- MCVD Tips: 14 ideas to enhance preform strength, yield, and reproducibility
- MCVD Options: These add-on features can enhance your optical fiber preform strength, yield, and reproducibility
- Controlling the optical fiber preform deposition process
- Preparing to Manufacture an Optical Fiber Preform
- Critical Design Goals to Manufacture Optical Fiber Preforms
- Comparing the 2 types of MCVD gas delivery systems to manufacture optical preforms: Stainless steel and Teflon/glass
- Attention specialty fiber manufacturers: Take advantage of FOC’s preform fabrication consulting to troubleshoot your system and achieve reproducibility and high yields
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