Polymer optical fibers
Polymer cladded fibers PCF
Polymer cladded fibers (PCF) have been available on the market for many years and are characterized by being very robust and easy to assemble. PCF consists of a glass core with polymer cladding. What is especially important here is the good adhesion of the cladding material to the glass core, which does not go without saying because of the different expansion coefficients especially at high temperatures. That is where many products on the market differ most. Worldwide there are a vast number of different abbreviations for PCF such as PCS, HCS and HPCF.
BizLink uses a fiber with NA = 0.37, which shows especially low attenuation at 650 and 850 nm, as its standard PCF. The low attenuation makes it possible to bridge distances of up to 500 m in systems designed for PCF with 650 nm and distances of up to 4 km in systems with 850 nm. PCF cables and cable assemblies are suitable for a wide range of applications. Therefore different materials and components customized for the respective application are available. These can be industrial cables for the chemically and mechanically demanding A&D environment as well as temperature and torsion resistant solutions for the control of wind turbines. In some cases connector solutions for quick and easy field assembly can be realized.
Polymer optical fibers POF
In polymer optical fibers (POF), both the fiber core and the cladding are made of polymers. Key advantages of polymer optical fibers are high flexibility (high alternate bending resistance with smaller bending radii) as well as low cost solution in connecting and transmission technology in comparison with glass optical fibers.
Moreover, this type of fiber also has all the major benefits of a fiber optical cable connection: EMC security, clear galvanic separation, no crosstalk, low weight POF can by now be used to bridge distances up to 70 meters, which is normally sufficient for both industrial environments and smaller office as well as home networks. It is even possible to cover distances up to 150 meters by selecting suitable active components.
Globally unparalleled quality assurance
BizLink performs a 100 % final check of optical attenuation on all POF cables in series production. This enables us to guarantee first-class quality for our products. Attenuation measurements on entire cable drums (250 and 500 m) represent a particular challenge due to the high optical attenuation of the POF. BizLink uses a measurement system specifically developed for this purpose with an extremely high attenuation budget at 650 nm. POF cables and assemblies are suitable for a variety of application fields, and BizLink offers innovative solutions for the most diverse tasks. In the industrial sector (A&D), the focus is mainly on the behaviour under harsh environmental conditions, chemical resistance and for example drag chain suitability.