High strength fusion splicing of hollow core photonic crystal fiber and single-mode fiber by large offset reheating

High strength fusion splicing hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) and single-mode fiber (SMF) requires sufficient energy, which results in collapse of the air holes inside HC-PCF. Usually the additional splice loss induced by the collapse of air holes is too large. By large offset reheating, the collapse length of HC-PCF is reduced, thus the additional splice loss induced by collapse is effectively suppressed. This method guarantees high-strength fusion splicing between the two types of fiber with a low splice loss. The strength of the splice compares favorably with the strength of HC-PCF itself. This method greatly improves the reliability of splices between HC-PCFs and SMFs.