For very high-quality fiber surfaces, it is often necessary to apply some polishing procedure after cleaving. One may, for example, insert the fiber end into a hollow glass tube and fix it there with a glue. The tube gives the fiber a higher strength and is inserted into a polishing apparatus. The fiber is polished down together with the glass tube. This procedure allows one to produce a high-quality surface with an arbitrary well-defined orientation of the fiber surface. However, it takes substantially more time than simple cleaving. See the article on polishing of fibers for details. Laser Cleaving of Fibers By purchasing from reputable manufacturers, you’ll enjoy manufacturer support and warranties; service for periodic maintenance and cleaning that extends the life of the cleaver; and a cleaver made of the best durable metal materials. The reliability and resulting quality is substantially better than with real mechanical cleaving, and this of course leads to substantial advantages in terms of yield and working time. That is particularly the case when polishing steps have to follow; the time spent on those (and the amount of used consumables) can be reduced due to the improved starting quality. On the other hand, a laser lever is of course substantially more expensive than a mechanical cleaver. A microscope may be required to properly inspect the obtained fiber surfaces. There are hand-held microscopes for such purposes, and fusion splicing apparatuses also often contain a microscope. A precision ground diamond blade is attached to a resonant acoustic stepped horn. The ultrasonic horn resonance is maintained by an electronic circuit for the duration of the cleave and then automatically terminated to preserve battery life. The ultrasonically vibrating blade moves slowly toward the tensioned fiber on stictionless damped bearings. Cleaving then takes place without the damage from compressive stresses and blade intrusion into the fiber that is typical of conventional cleavers. The adjustable diamond blade normally gives 20,000 cleaves and is replaceable.

When we need to join two optical fibers together, we usually use mechanical splice or fusion splice.A fiber cleaver utilizes an automatic anvil drop for fewer required steps and better cleaving consistency. The automated anvil design can save time and significantly improve the quality of the cleave by eliminating human error and subpar cleaves associated with scribes and manual cleavers. To perfectly cleave optical fibers, perform the following steps: Cleaving is the process by which an optical fiber is “cut” or precisely broken for termination or splicing. Just like cutting glass plate, fiber is cut by scoring or scratching the surface and applying stress so the glass breaks in a smooth manner along the stress lines created by the scratch. Properly done, the fiber will cleave with a clean surface perpendicular to the length of the fiber, with no protruding glass on either end. Sumitomo is most well known for their consistently high-quality fusion splicers which are now considered standard equipment by many technicians and engineers in the fiber optic field.

AFL Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan since 2005, is widely recognized by the telecommunications industry as one of the foremost fiber optic solution providers. Before cleaving, a fiber coating needs to be stripped off with a coating stripper tool, or dissolved with a suitable solvent. The latter technique – chemical stripping – may be required in problematic cases, but takes more time. Thermal stripping may be another option. The downside to these built-in cleavers is that if either the cleaver or splicer requires maintenance, the technician loses two valuable tools, which can hold up the job at hand.

Judging the Cleaving Results

Since fracture is such a violent and difficult to control process, even the best commercial cleaver will sometime produce defective cleaves.