PCF fiber (Silica photonic crystal fiber) or Holey Fiber is a type of fiber that has an array of microscopic air holes running along its length. Splicing PCF to standard single-mode fiber (SMF) is a challenging task, but it is also important because of the potential broad applications. When splicing PCF fiber to SMF it is often imperative to avoid collapsing of the PCF on the air holes; however, the two types of fiber require different laser powers for melting. A 3SAE glass processing system or Fitel specialty fusion splicer such as the S185 model have been developed to demonstrate effectiveness at splicing between the large-mode-area PCF and SMF with low splice loss.
