Phenix fibersect.

multi® Improves Performance and

Production Yield for Pre-Term Fiber Assembly
 Phenix fibersect.multi® Improves Performance and
Production Yield for Pre-Term Fiber Assembly
Fiber cabling technologies and transmission speeds continue to
advance, demanding more fiber links than ever within data centers as
the primary means of connecting switches, servers, and storage devices.
To keep up with the ever-increasing need for bandwidth and capacity,
pre-terminated fiber assemblies have become the de facto choice for
quickly and efficiently deploying fiber links. According to a recent report
by MarketsandMarkets, the pre-term fiber market is expected to grow at
a compound annual growth rate of 9.0% from USD 2.1 billion in 2019 to
USD 3.2 billion by 2024 as both high-volume multinational and
smaller “boutique” cable assembly houses continue to expand and
ramp up production in more locations to provide local inventory and
faster turnround.

Factory pre-term fiber assemblies have superseded on-site termination for a variety of reasons. Because they arrive
on-site ready to deploy, pre-term solutions can speed data center deployments by up to 90% and significantly reduce
cost compared to time-consuming field termination that requires more skill, training, and materials and results in more
waste and performance variables. The factory connectorization process also enables significantly higher performance
margins to better support the latest high-speed fiber applications that have far more stringent insertion loss and return
loss requirements. Furthermore, advanced high-speed applications deploy parallel optic transmission where data is
simultaneously transmitted and received over multiple fibers, which requires multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connectors
like the MTP® that are not supported via field termination. High-speed duplex applications and the need for higher
density fiber deployments are also giving way to new small form-factor connector designs that are also not supported
by traditional on-site field termination methods. In short, pre-term fiber assemblies have become the primary network
connectivity solution that our digital world relies on.

As a supplier of pre-term fiber assemblies looking to effectively

compete in this expanding market with more players and greater
demand, you need to ensure maximum performance, lower cost,
and reduced production time—all of which rely heavily on the
tools your assembly team uses during the factory
connectorization process. Fiber termination is a critical step in the
process, directly impacting the success of the subsequent
polishing processes. Thankfully, new innovations in cleaving
technology can help improve both performance and production
yield while reducing your cost, manpower, and waste.

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 Endface Geometry:
It’s All in the Cleave
A key factor in building high-quality, high-performance pre-term fiber assemblies is the quality and geometry of the fiber
endface. The quality and geometry of a fiber endface directly impact the performance of connectors in terms of how
well light signals transmit from one fiber to another and how well two fibers will mate once connected. Ultimately, this
will determine how your customers’ networks will perform. Poor endface quality and geometry essentially cause higher
insertion loss and reflectance, the two critical performance factors in optical transmission. Insertion loss is the loss of
signal power that occurs over a fiber link and includes the loss caused by the cable and any connection points along the
way. Reflectance is the amount of the signal reflected from a connection point.

Fiber endface defects such as scratches, pits, and cracks act as reflection and obscure light transmission. These defects
also have the potential to collect debris that further increases insertion loss and reflectance. Over time, even minor
defects can enlarge under stress, causing fiber breaks or small chips that can further damage the endface and affect the
mating of two fibers. Even if defects are not present, the fiber endface itself must have the proper geometry to prevent
air gaps or misalignment between two mated fibers. Any time there is an air gap or a misalignment between fiber cores,
both insertion loss and reflectance will be high—often too high for the transmitted signal to properly reach the receiver
at the other end.

Because the quality of the fiber endface is an essential factor in

repeatable, reliable optical transmission performance, industry
standards define specific parameters for both cleanliness and
geometry. The IEC 61300-3-35 standard contains specific grading
criteria to assess pass or fail when inspecting a fiber endface that is
based on number and size of defects. For example, the standard
specifies that the fiber core in a multimode fiber endface cannot
contain any scratches larger than 3 microns. For endface geometry, IEC
61300-3-35 standards specify the following properties:

Radius of Curvature – Specifies the roundness of the endface within a

specific range because too tight of a curve can cause too much
compression on the endface during mating, while too loose of a curve can
cause not enough.

Apex Offset – Specifies the maximum distance between the highest point
and the center of the endface to determine how close the apex of the
endface is centered, which is critical for core-to-core alignment when
mating two fibers.

Fiber Protrusion Height – Specifies how high the fiber core can extend from
the surface of the connector because too high of a protrusion risks the
fiber being damaged during mating, while too low of a height can cause
air gaps.

For mechanical transfer (MT) ferrules used in multi-fiber MPO connectors, endface geometry is even
more difficult to measure and achieve—geometric properties must be considered for each of the
fibers within the multi-fiber array, as well as in comparison to the other fibers both horizontally and
vertically across the array. For example, IEC standards specify the maximum height protrusion for
each fiber in a multi-fiber array, as well as its height differential compared to all fibers and to imme-
diately adjacent fibers. It should be noted that the higher the number of fibers and fiber rows in an
array, the more difficult proper endface geometry is to achieve.

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 Ensuring proper and repeatable endface geometry when building fiber optic assemblies relies heavily
on polishing that finishes the endface and cleans the surface. Before endfaces can be polished, the
fibers must first be precisely and cleanly cut at the proper angle, a process broadly referred to as
“cleaving.” In other words, every good endface polish starts with a good cleave.

When cleaving fibers in preparation for polishing, the primary goal is to produce consistently clean,
low-profile cleaves where the fiber and epoxy is cut as close as possible to the ferrule and parallel to
its face. For several years, manual cleaving of fibers was the only option until laser cleavers entered the market about
a decade ago. While laser cleavers solved some of the challenges associated with manual cleaving, there are important
considerations surrounding both methods.

Manual Cleaving Considerations:

Time-consuming, imprecise, excess polishing, and re-work.
Manually cleaving fibers – also known as “hand cleaving” or “hand scribing” – is the process of precisely scoring the
glass and applying tension until the fiber breaks. This technique takes significant skill and experience to achieve the
desired result—the scribe must be held at the right angle, in the right location, and with just the right amount of force.
Operators typically participate in months of training to perfect the process and achieve an adequate level of
consistency and repeatability. If your skilled operators leave or retire, or you need to add additional staff to keep up
with production, the cost and time associated with training can adversely impact your bottom line.

To compensate for operator error, it is common to manually cleave fibers so that they protrude from the tip of the
epoxy bead. The protruding fiber nubs must be removed during the de-nubbing process before they can be polished.
This is often done manually (“air polishing”) or via a polishing machine using a coarse film. If the nubs are left
protruding, they will rip the polishing film, which is of particular concern with the more expensive finer films. Since the
protruding fibers are not encapsulated by the epoxy, they are also subject to damage during the de-nubbing process.
Using coarse film to de-nub can yield particles in the polishing area that can create large scratches on the fiber endface
or result in sharp chips around the outer edges of the endface that can propagate below the surface of the ferrule and
cause failure in the future. Protruding fiber nubs are also more prone to breaking during the polishing process. The
result is propagated core cracks, which are not detected until the final pass-fail testing stage, resulting in a higher rate
of rework, wasted polishing film, and increased scrap.

The challenges of manual cleaving are compounded when dealing with angled physical contact (APC) where the
endface is slanted at 8 degrees, which reduces reflectance by causing reflected light to be absorbed into the cladding
that surrounds the fiber core. Compared to ultra-physical contact (UPC) flat-angled connectors, it is much more
challenging to maintain the APC connector’s 8-degree angle using a manual cleave. With APC connectors seeing
increased use in a broad range of applications, manual cleaving simply may not cut it. For example, emerging
short-reach singlemode data center applications such as 100GBASE-DR, 200GBASE-DR4 and 00GBASE-DR4 will further
drive the use of APC connectors as these applications use lower cost, low-power transceivers that cannot tolerate
excessive reflectance.

The challenges and time required in manual cleaving has rendered this process unfeasible for today’s
demand for high-volume multi-fiber MPO assemblies. When simultaneously cleaving multiple fibers in an MT
ferrule, it is extremely difficult to achieve consistent fiber height protrusion across all fibers using a manual
cleave. Without consistent fiber heights to start, you won’t have consistent fiber heights after polishing.
Even the highest-end polishing machines need uniformly cut fibers to achieve the best results. The diffi-
culties of properly cleaving multiple fibers at once using manual processes is what spawned the intro-
duction of laser cleavers.

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 Laser Cleaver Considerations:
Thermal damage, irregular fiber height, and prohibitive cost.

Laser cleaving technology was introduced to the market over a decade

ago to address the challenges presented by manual cleaving. Unlike
manual cleaving, laser cleavers do not score and break the fibers but
rather “cut” through both the fiber and epoxy using a high-energy laser
Rooted in Experience, beam that heats the material to the point where it is vaporized,
essentially ablating it. Compared to manual cleaving, vaporization cutting
Innovation, and Value with a laser offers the benefits of eliminating the human factor in an
effort to achieve uniform height protrusion for multi-fiber connectors and
Phenix Fiber Optics was founded in 2005 in Bozeman, Montana
by Roger Robichaud. Roger, who serves as Phenix’s President, removing the epoxy bead, while offering a much faster process. However,
has been a pioneer in fiber optic evolution with more than 40 the laser cleaver comes with its own considerations.
years of experience in the development, manufacturing, and
marketing of innovative fiber optic instrumentation. In 1978,
Roger founded Orionics, the first manufacturer of fusion
splicers and OTDRs in the U.S.
First and foremost, laser cleavers have a high price tag and are
typically considered a luxury item suited primarily for manufacturers with
Phenix was already manufacturing fiber optic tools when a
Japan distributor asked Roger if there was a way to cut both extreme-volume and/or specialized applications, such as cleaving lensed
the epoxy and the fibers flush in one step to eliminate the need
for de-nubbing.
or tapered fibers. Indeed, the upfront investment and ongoing calibration
and maintenance costs makes the return on investment (ROI) difficult, if
“When the idea was initially proposed, my first response was to
say ‘no’ because I knew that we were dealing with two materials not impossible, to justify for a smaller assembly house.
that perform completely different from one another,” says
Roger. “When he proposed the idea to me again at a later date,
the industry was witnessing a significant rise in pre-term Cost aside, the most significant issue with laser cleavers is they still fail to
ultifiber assemblies. I took it seriously that time.”
produce an ideal surface for polishing. While they enable consistent fiber
While there were challenges along the way, Roger and his team and epoxy heights in multi-fiber MT ferrules, lasers typically cut epoxy at
finally developed a precision diamond-coated custom saw that
grinds through the material, and the fibersect was born. This about 100m from the ferrule face and leave the fibers protruding about
technology, in addition to a proprietary software and 50m from the epoxy. The fiber protrusion is due to the difference in the
mechanics, and the fibersect’s precision adapters,
accomplished what many felt was impossible. temperature needed to vaporize the different materials—2950°C for the
“What started out as a way to speed the process also ended up
glass and 400°C for the epoxy. Since the epoxy is vaporized at a
being a much more cost-effective, safer method that results lower temperature than the fibers, fiber nubs are still left protruding from
in better performance by eliminating the huge thermal shock
that can happen at the face of the ferrule with a laser,” explains the epoxy that must be removed before polishing, just like with manual
Roger. cleaving.
Today, the fibersect is helping manufacturers of pre-term fiber
assemblies achieve improved performance and production
yield at a lower cost. As one engineer manager from Optical
In addition, the extreme temperatures used to vaporize the epoxy and
Cabling Systems put it, “We knew we had to move away from glass introduces a high temperature pulse into the epoxy and fibers that
the hand cleaving method, which resulted in cracked fibers and
extensive polishing. is conducted toward the ferrule. The epoxy surrounding the fiber is first
However, laser cleaver options felt overly complicated and
vaporized, leaving a void. As the heat pulse travels toward the ferrule, a
overly expensive. After a side by side comparison we decided region surrounding each fiber is melted before finally dissipating some
to go with the fibersect. Our production line staff are happy
to use the fibersect—just put in the ferrule and push the distance from the ferrule face. As the epoxy resolidifies, there is the
button. Every cleave is practically identical so the potential for the fiber to shift slightly in the precisely engineered u-grooves
polishing process is much more uniform, saving time
and money.” of the ferrule. This could impact the apex offset of the fiber and prevent
The fibersect is also backed by Phenix Fiber
core-to-core alignment when mating two fibers, causing increased
Optics’ customer-centric approach that is insertion loss that could degrade optical transmission.
rooted in the values of finding creative and
innovative solutions to meet customer
needs, providing superior customer It should also be noted that the vaporization process used with a laser
service, and achieving unfaltering
quality. cleaver raises the temperature extremely quickly. This rapid temperature
change produces a thermal shock in the epoxy and fibers that
propagates into the ferrule and could lead to substantial tensile stresses
upon cooling, such as cracks and decreased strength that can lead to
failure over time.

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 A Better Way with the Availability of Mechanical
Cleaving Technology
As more pre-term fiber assembly companies scale up production, they are faced with competing demands to increase
efficiency and cut cost – all while maintaining or even increasing their product performance in the form of high
transmission values. With the considerations surrounding manual and laser cleaving options, thankfully there is a new
solution that can fulfill the need—mechanical cleaving. The Phenix fibersect.multi® mechanical cleaver outperforms
traditional cleaving methods by removing the human variable and improving process control via automation in a simple,
cost-effective device that can deliver a fast ROI. Generally, the cost is 4 cents per cut using the fibersect, and for anyone
manufacturing 1,000 connectors per month, you see immediate ROI.

But where the fibersect really shines is in performance. It uses precision adapters that ensure accurate and repeatable
positioning of ferrules and connectors during cleaving so that all fibers are cleaved at a uniform height, providing the
foundation for improved endface geometry and superior transmission performance. Using a precision diamond cutting
wheel, the fibersect cuts through the fibers and epoxy on a flat plane just above the surface of the ferrule and leaves
no fiber nubs. This completely eliminates the need for time-consuming de-nubbing and reduces the potential for chips
and cracks. Compared to a laser that cuts the epoxy at 100µm above the ferrule and leaves the fibers protruding 50µm
beyond the epoxy, the fibersect cuts both the epoxy and the fibers flat at an adjustable distance from the ferrule face. A
typical cut distance of 150µm is shown below.

Battery powered and portable, the fibersect is also about half the cost of a laser cleaver, takes up much less
benchtop space, and can be easily serviced due to its palm-size portability. It is extremely user-friendly,
eliminating the need for skilled labor and extensive training. Simply load the ferrule or connector into the
fibersect’s adapter, push the button or footswitch, and the fiber(s) and epoxy bead are removed in less than one
second. The fibersect also eliminates any safety concerns by carefully collecting waste in a safe, controlled
manner and eliminates the need for extraction of harmful fumes.

The potential for any residual ferrule stress caused by the thermal
shock produced by high-temperature lasers is also no longer a
concern, nor is the potential for misaligned fibers due to the
melting and re-solidifying of the epoxy and ferrule. Also, unlike
with manual or laser cleaving, there are no protruding fiber
“nubs” remaining after the cleave, resulting in a faster and
more successful polishing process.

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 It Just Makes Sense

The popularity of the Phenix fibersect mechanical cleaver has continued to rise over the past few years, with some of the
largest fiber optic cable manufacturers around the globe now using the fibersect. In fact, US Conec, a leader in
manufacturing high-quality MT ferrules, lists the fibersect as a recommended piece of equipment for its customers that
are processing their MTP brand connectors.

Both smaller “boutique” cable assembly houses as well as large, multinational companies have conducted extensive ROI
analysis and product evaluations with favorable results, including significant cost savings in consumables, employee
training, and throughput. When compared side-by-side with manual and laser cleaving options, the fibersect is the sweet
spot for any fiber assembly house looking for a lower capital and operational expense in conjunction with superior
long-term performance and higher yield through enhanced productivity and reduced labor. It simply makes sense.

Manual Laser The Phenix fibersect is also a highly versatile

Fibersect
Cleaving Cleaving one-button solution virtually any fiber connector or
ferrule. With quick-change adapter plates, the fibersect
Upfront can cut through the epoxy and fibers parallel to the
Investment   ferrule face for UPC connectivity, or it can cleave
pre-angled ferrules at an 8-degree angle for APC
Maintenance connectivity, and cut lengths are adjustable from 0 to
Cost    600µm. Using a variety of available adapters for bare
ferrules and fully assembled connectors, the fibersect can
Labor
Cost   cut all MT ferrules, from 4 to 72 fibers, MTO connectors,
LC connectors (simplex and duplex) and even the new
small-form factor US Conec ELiMENT™ MDC connector. It
Skill Level
  can also cut SC, FC, SMA, ST, MU connectors and others.

De-nubbing/ Phenix offers a 1-year comprehensive warranty on the

Polishing Time    fibersect and excels in providing complete, expedient
customer support. The cut counter on the fibersect will
Endface also help you keep track of the number of cleaves to
geometry   replace the diamond cutting wheel when necessary—
with proper use, the wheel is designed to last for at least
Long-term 350,000 Mt ferrule cleaves and can last significantly
integrity  longer, particularly when processing single fibers due to
less material to cut through. The fibersect can also be
customized with a vacuum waste collector and footswitch
Portability
   to facilitate high-volume environments.

Footprint
  
Want to try out the fibersect?

Phenix Fiber Optics understands that new technology may require

evaluation and assessment before a purchasing decision can be
made. We are pleased to offer fibersect® demos so you can try it VISIT OUR WEBSITE
out before buying. We will provide full support to get you up and
running with a demo fibersect.

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