Three Methods to Manufacture Optical Thim Film Coating for Optical Fiber

Optical thin film coating refers to the process of depositing a thin layer of material onto an optical surface,such as glass mirror or a optical fiber endface. This coating is designed to modify the optical properties of the surface, such as reflectivity, transmittance, or spectral response.In this article, we will introduce three methods of manufacturing metal coating optical fiber.

Vacuum Vapor Deposition Method

It refers to the method in which the material to be plated is used as a substrate in a vacuum environment, and the applied material is given energy sufficient to evaporate, so that the applied material is deposited on the substrate to be plated. Vacuum vapor deposition produces a coating with average adhesion capability. The uniformity of the layer thickness is related to the structure of the evaporation source and the substrate layout. During the vapor deposition process, the film thickness can be measured and controlled more accurately, and a variety of coatings with different properties can be produced as needed.

Electroplating Method

Electroplating is a material surface treatment process that utilizes the principle of electrolysis. Since the plating layer formed by electroplating is chemically bonded to the substrate, it has a high bonding energy, and the strength of the coating optical fiber produced is higher. Before plating, a very thin conductive layer is generally required on the surface of the optical fiber. Nickel is usually used as the plating layer, because of its excellent physical, chemical and mechanical properties, can play a good protective role.

Ion Plating

Ion plating ionizes and evaporates the metal and causes it to collide with gas molecules to deposit a film on the substrate. Ion plating combines electroplating, vacuum evaporation plating and other methods to significantly improve the performance of coating optical fiber. Ion plating technology can be used to coat metals, plastics, and ceramics with a single layer, a compound layer, or a variety of compliant layers with different properties.