Process steps & production locations
The
DCOF production steps can be divided in 5 major phases described in the figure
below.
PCVD
& FCVD deposition
DCOF
has two major core rod production processes, Plasma activated Chemical Vapor
Deposition (PCVD) which is mainly operated in Eindhoven, the Netherlands to
produce single mode, multimode & specialty core rods. Furnace Chemical Vapor
Deposition (FCVD) capacity is installed in Douvrin (France) & Claremont (USA)
and is utilized to produce single mode core rods.
Collapsing
As both
FCVD & PCVD are inside vapor deposition processes the result of this process is
a hollow tube with deposited glass layers. This tube is heated to such a high
temperature that the glass tube can be collapsed to a solid rod (the preform).
APVD
Overcladding
Having
produced world class corerods the next step in manufacturing our fibers is the
overcladding process to produce preforms with diameters up to 120mm. Using the
proprietary APVD solution DCOF is able to manufacture high quality, cost
effective preforms in both Douvrin (France) and Claremont (USA).
Drawing the fiber
In
drawing locations world wide (Douvrin France, Eindhoven The Netherlands,
Claremont USA, Shenzen China), preforms are drawn to fiber using ColorLockTM
coating (single mode fiber & NZDSF) & DLPC9 (multimode fiber).
Measuring the fiber
After
the drawing process, the fiber is measured in order to quantify numerous
parameters and thus determine the properties of the fiber. DCOF is applying the most up
to date measuring techniques & continuously developes new methods to guarantee
the highest accuracy possible. All fibers are complying to the relevant
international and regional standards (ITU-T, IEC, CENELEC and TIA)
