Specialty Optical Fibers Handbook

14.6.3 Fiber Stripping, Cleaving, and

Connectorization

Polymer coatings can be stripped using normal fiber stripping tools. The

carbon coating itself will usually adhere well to the glass fiber and, therefore,

will not be removed by the stripping tool. Once the polymer coating is removed,

the fiber can be cleaved using a conventional fiber cleaver. Because the carbon

coating is very thin, the overall fiber diameter of a stripped fiber will be very

close to the standard 125-mm size, allowing the fiber end to be inserted and

bonded into standard fiber ferrules. In general, the only reason to remove the

carbon coating is for fusion splicing, described in the next section.

14.6.4 Fusion Splicing

Carbon-coated fibers can be fusion spliced using the same