FIBER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

DURING PHASE I, E-TEK WILL INVESTIGATE, COMPUTE/SIMULATE, DESIGN, AND OPTIMIZE A 1.3 UUM SINGLE-MODE 1:100 OPTIC FIBER SPLITTER USING A GRADED-INDEX (GRIN) LENS. THE SPLITTER WILL HAVE ANTICIPATED EXCESS LOSS OF < 4 DB AND LOSS DEVIATION OF < + OR - 5%. THE PROPOSED APPROACH HAS THE ADVANTAGES OF MASS PRODUCIBILITY, POTENTIALLY LOW COST, CAPABILITY OF OPERATING IN ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTS, NO PHASE-ERROR INTRODUCED AT MICROWAVE MODULATED FREQUENCIES, AND THE POTENTIAL OF EXPANDING TO 1:1,000 OR EVEN 1:5,000 SPLITTING RATIO. IN ADDITION TO THE USE OF THE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE GRIN LENS, E-TEK WILL OPTIMIZE THE INDEX PROFILE TO IMPROVE THE LOSS DEVIATION. MULTILAYER FIBERLENS INTERFACE UNIT WILL BE OPTIMIZED TO REDUCE EXCESS LOSS CONTRIBUTED BY FIBER MISALIGNMENT AND FRACTIONAL LOSS, AND TO IMPROVE PRODUCIBILITY.