Design considerations for multi-fiber ferrule manufacturing

Fiber optic connectors are bridges linking the key elements of optical communication devices. Among them, ferrules used to position and align fibers are essential and the most critical component for fiber optic connectors. In this paper, design accuracy of ferrules will be studied. Factors affecting the fiber eccentricity during ferrule connections, including dimensions and tolerances, will be discussed and expressed in mathematical models. The 2MT ferrule was used as an example. Also, the precision plastic injection molding technique will be used to manufacture the ferrules. In order to reduce the eccentricity values for the required insertion loss, the Taguchi method is first used to simplify the optimization problems of the injection molding process. The design of experiment methodologies are then used to obtain more accurate settings for the parameters. Using these settings, ferrules with a 0.00055 mm mean eccentricity value can be obtained, and insertion losses were measured to verify the mathematical model.