• Skip to Management
  • Skip to Main menu
  • Skip to Page content
Adlershof Logo
  • WISTA
  • WISTA.Plan
  • WISTA.Service
WISTA direkt
Search
  • de
  • en
  • Adlershof Logo
  • About / Directory
    • Companies / Institutes
    • Science City in numbers
    • Direction / Maps
      • Bus / Train
      • By Car
      • Bicycle
      • Orientation / Maps
      • Trail of Thoughts
  • Newsroom
    • Overview
    • News
      • Social Media Stream
      • Success Stories
    • Events / Calendar
      • Adlershof Dissertation Award
      • Adlershof Research Forum
      • Long Night of Sciences Berlin
    • Adlershof Journal
    • Hot Topics
      • Adlershof Mission "Grand Challenges"
      • Circular Economy
      • Digital infra­structure / 5G campus network
    • Photos / Flyer / Downloads
      • Magazine archive
    • WISTA-Editorial Staff
  • Science / Technology
    • Overview
    • Technology Centres
      • Photonics / Optics
      • Biotech­nology / Envi­ron­ment
      • Micro­systems / Materi­als
      • IT / Media
      • Renewable Energy / Photovoltaics
    • Non-university Research
    • Universities / Colleges
      • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
      • Services for Students
    • Young Talents / STEM / School Labs
    • Start-Ups
      • Adlershof Start-Up Centre IGZ
      • Adlershof Founder’s Lab
    • Networks / Management
      • Campus Club Adlershof
  • TV / Media
    • TV and Movie Production
    • Media Services / Companies
    • News and Events
    • Filming Locations
    • Costume Hire
    • GDR Film Archive
    • Tickets / Booking
  • Properties
    • Overview
    • Real Estate Rent
      • Office Space / Workspace / Laboratories
    • Real Estate Offers
      • Commercial Properties
    • ST3AM Working Environments / Coworking
    • Residential
    • Construction
      • Building Projects
      • Architecture
      • Webcam
  • Service
    • Overview
    • Gastronomy / Sport / Culture / Shopping
    • Jobs / Market
    • Social and Healthcare Facilities
    • WISTA-Business Services
    • Event Services / Guided Tours / Hotels
    • Facility Management
    • Downloads / Photos / Videos
    • Jobs for Refugees
  • Hood
    • Overview
    • History
    • Nature Park
    • Culture
    • Technology Park
    • Digital Tours
  • WISTA
  • WISTA.Plan
  • WISTA.Service
WISTA direkt

News

  • Overview
  • News
  • Events / Calendar
  • Adlershof Journal
  • Hot Topics
  • Photos / Flyer / Downloads
  • WISTA-Editorial Staff
  • Adlershof
  • Newsroom
  • News
04. January 2011

Best connections: New connecting technologies for optical components

Demonstrator with POF-bonded LED-Components

Also private users are to benefit from the fast data transfer through fibre optic networks. So that the data can reach every household, these networks must branch. Yet it’s not so easy to weld fibre optics or connect them to optical components like filters or lasers. The light conducting core of the fibre is about one tenth the diameter of a human hair, and the efficient, interference free transmission of light waves depends greatly on the precision of the junctions.

“Fibre to the home – that’s the keyword,” explained Christian Kutza, Managing Director of FOC-Fibre Optics Components in Adlershof. Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute and other companies in Berlin, FOC has developed a new connecting technology. “We intend to offer large piece numbers at prices fit for the world market,” emphasised Kutza. The foundation is provided by a tiny rectangular plastic board of one by three millimetres containing integrated waveguides functioning as couplers between the component and the fibre. The perfect vertical alignment of the fibre’s severed edge to the waveguide is obtained with a receiving U groove that is precision etched into the board. “Simple, but highly effective,” concluded Kutza with satisfaction. “We avoid adhesive in the optical path and save complex adjustments and subsequent control based on measurements.” FOC has already set up assembly areas and sold its first components to pilot projects.

At the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), researchers headed by Stefan Schmitz have modified the established and low cost technology of wire bonding. This uses short polymer fibres to link optical components to each other and to a PCB of plastic coated glass. First, the bonding tool presses on one end of the fibre parallel to the board. The two plastics are then literally welded together under the action of heat and friction generated by ultrasound. The fibre is then formed into a small loop to the next contact, there bonded, and then severed. “We have adapted the process parameters like temperature and fibre routing to the new highly sensitive materials. The qualities achieved with our automatic bonder are comparable with those of previous procedures,” concluded Schmitz. The next step will be to demonstrate applications in sensor installations and data transfer and to initiate series production.

by Uta Deffke

Links:
www.foc-fo.de
www.izm.fraunhofer.de

  • LinkedInshare0
  • Facebookshare0
  • WhatsAppshare0
  • E-Mail

The development of the Science and Technology Park Berlin Adlershof was and is co-financed by the European Union namely by EFRE. This concerns infrastructure development like construction of technology centres. Furthermore EFRE is used for international projects.

  • © WISTA Management GmbH
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Social Media Guide
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Newsletter
  • RSS
  • International
Member of:
Zukunftsort Adlershof Logo