Arc-fusion splicing of single-mode fibers: An apparatus with an automatic core-axis alignment mechanism and its field trial results

A presplicing technique with a splice-loss measurement accuracy of ± 0.02 dB is presented. Automated core-axis alignment and field application are investigated. An average splice loss of 0.1 dB, a 15-km monitoring distance, and a 1-min average-axis-alignment time are achieved in field trials of a high-capacity transmission system. It is found that splice loss can be estimated by monitoring power change
\Delta P
before and after the fusion splice, and an optimum monitoring power change
\Delta P_{0}
exists for the attainment of low-loss splice. By restricting the
\Delta P
range to |
\Delta P - \Delta P_{0} < 0.3
dB, an average splice loss of less than 0.12 dB is achieved with a success probability of 87 percent.