Abstract
Hole-assisted fiber has a conventional refractive index core and several air holes in the cladding around the core. This fiber has no bending loss at a bending radius of 5 mm. We have designed and fabricated an optical fiber curl cord as an application of this fiber. The wiring length of this cord can be flexibly adjusted because the curled part is capable of stretching and then contracting. We confirmed that our optical fiber curl cord has good characteristics by performing tests and evaluations including a failure probability calculation, flame resistance tests, and crush tests, on the assumption that the cord would be used in home networks. We also developed a bendable type SC connector with this type of fiber. This connector is designed to achieve optical wiring workability, safety, and a good appearance. We also obtained good results in splice loss, repeated bending and heat cycle tests with our bendable type SC connector.
