Abstract

Useful methods have been suggested for performing separately each of the three steps necessary to prepare a fiber-cable splice: end preparation,¹ alignment,² and connection.³ A companion paper describes a splicing technique which combines the last two steps.⁴ That effective field splicing requires more than a straightforward combination of all steps is emphasized, for example, by our experinece that the handling of the fiber end faces and their contact with foreign matter in the process of alignment seriously Increase the danger of contamination and high splice losses. Consequently, proper end preparation and its timing have an important influence on the splice loss statistics and the splice reliability.

© 1975 Optical Society of America