​What is fiber optic cleaver

In fiber optics, fibers with clean and neat end faces are usually used. Usually obtained by cutting, which is controlled damage. The instrument used for this purpose is called a fiber cleaver.

Simple cutting blade：the simplest cutting method is to use only a diamond blade, put it in a pen-shaped scribe, and use it to carve a very small notch on the fiber along the direction perpendicular to the fiber axis. (Be careful not to use too much force to engrave the fiber, otherwise you will not get a good result.) Then hold a section of the fiber and remove the other end with your fingers, so the cutting process is completed. The fiber can also be pulled off. This technique requires some practice, and the results obtained are less reproducible.

Simple and inexpensive mechanical cleavers can be used as part of the fiber termination kit. The results they get are slightly less repeatable than high-quality precision cutting knives. At the very least, it requires a lot of practice. Normally, this device can only cut standard silica fibers.

Precision fiber cleaver cutting technology with more control conditions can achieve higher repeatability results. Therefore, there is a special device called a mechanical high-precision optical fiber cleaver. The working principle is as follows：

The fiber is placed in the cleaver (after the coating is stripped) and fixed, usually a V-shaped groove and two clamps.Turn the handle to provide a pulling force, the size of which can be adjusted (for example, with a screwdriver). The stress is not enough to break the optical fiber.Turn the second handle again, and slowly approach the diamond blade to the optical fiber to create a score. Electromagnetic force or pressure can be applied to swing the blade.Finally, increase the tensile force to break the optical fiber.With this cleaver, the pulling force when using the blade is enough to break the optical fiber.

There are also some mechanical semi-automatic fiber cleavers, which can obtain angular cutting (see Figure 1), that is, there is a certain non-90° included angle between the fiber end face and the fiber axis. To achieve this result, the fiber is twisted before being cleaved. The stronger the torsion, the larger the cutting angle obtained, and the relationship between them is also related to the pulling force, and the cutting angle obtained may have poor repeatability.

                                                                                                               （Figure 1）

When the light exits from the angle-cut fiber, it may be deflected. The figure also shows the direction of the reflected light, it will not return to the fiber core.

Some high-precision fiber cleavers are part of the fusion splicer, because high-precision cutting is a prerequisite for fusion splicing.