Sumitomo: Type-37PM Fusion Splicer

The Type-37PM is one of the fastest rotating chuck, core alignment fusion splicers available today for splicing polarization maintaining fiber. It's a fully-automatic, self-contained instrument for creating low-loss optical fiber splices. Utilizing a new fiber holder system, the Type-37PM improves splice performance for consistently low splice loss. It is designed to work with a variety of polarization maintaining (PM) fiber types with different coating, cladding and core sizes.

The splicer features automatic rotating chucks which allow the fast and slow axes of the PM fiber to be aligned while achieving horizontal and vertical core alignment. The splicer then fuses them together with heat from an electric arc to form a low-loss splice. A newly developed extinction ratio feedback system allows the splicer to communicate with an extinction ratio meter to achieve even more accurate alignment of the polarization axis. HDCM (High-resolution Direct Core Monitoring) image processing software in the splicer is used to perform core alignment. The fusion operation typically requires less than 120 seconds.