Research on an expanded beam single-mode fiber-optic connector

A new expanded beam single-mode fiber-optic connector is demonstrated. Aberration-free beam expansion by a factor of 5 is achieved with a cylindrical straight-tip optical fiber taper having an outer diameter of 2.5 mm. The unitary self-aligning taper structure with cylindrical tip allows alignment of two tapers by a sleeve to form a simple connector. Insertion losses as low as 0.15 dB/pair with a repeatability of 0.1 dB have been realized with this dirt-tolerant connector design.