Changes

'''Step 1: Cleaving'''

'''Step 1: Cleaving'''

* Place the fiber in the apparatus as shown in ''Work Stand Assembly'' under ''Cleaving''. Take the hobby knife and place it on the fiber(again look under ''Work Stand Assembly'' for the proper placement of the blade) and gently tap the butt end of the knife until the fiber is cut cleanly. Remove fiber and inspect the freshly cleaved end. Look for any major breaks in the outer cladding (use magnifying glass if necessary).  I will be posting pictures (as they become available) as to what is acceptable and unacceptable breaking in the cladding.  

** Place the fiber in the apparatus as shown in ''Work Stand Assembly'' under ''Cleaving''. Take the hobby knife and place it on the fiber(again look under ''Work Stand Assembly'' for the proper placement of the blade) and gently tap the butt end of the knife until the fiber is cut cleanly. Remove fiber and inspect the freshly cleaved end. Look for any major breaks in the outer cladding (use magnifying glass if necessary).  I will be posting pictures (as they become available) as to what is acceptable and unacceptable breaking in the cladding.

** For the waveguides, it is best to give yourself an extra 1/2 cm of fiber in case the cleaved end has major breaks in the outer cladding.  

* If the ends of the cleaved scintillators have major breaks in the outer cladding, then the best course of action it to toss out the unusable segment, properly polish the end attached to the spool and repeat Step 1. If the ends of the cleaved scintillators are border line acceptable proceed to Step 2.

 

** If you want to ensure that the outer cladding will not be disturbed during the polishing process you will need to remove the outer cladding for a short (about 0.5 mm) length of the fiber.  This is a relatively easy process it just takes some time a lot of patients, and a microscope.  To begin with, set up a cutting guide such that you can make a small cut perpendicular to the length of the fiber.  If possible try and design your cutting guide such that it also lines up the cuts for all of the sides.  I used a simple piece of paper raped around the fiber.

* For the waveguides, it is best to give yourself an extra 1/2 cm of fiber in case the cleaved end has major breaks in the outer cladding.  

** Next, using your hobby knife make a shallow cut along your cutting guide.(Note: you don't have to cut all the way through the outer cladding, just most of the way.)  Try not to cut the inner fiber, to insure that you do not, it takes some practice.  Take a piece of scrap fiber and begin cutting the outer cladding. The inner fiber feels much softer then the outer cladding, the only way to tell is it just cut through your test fiber.

** Now that each side of the fiber is cut, start removing the cladding.  To do this, it is easiest to use a second hobby knife.  Place the second hobby knife along the cut in the fiber and place the initial hobby knife at the end of the fiber between the cladding and the fiber and use it to pry up the cladding. If you did it right the cladding should come up and break along the cut that you made. (Note: don't worry about scratching the inner fiber, it will all be polished away anyway.)

** Finally, during polishing, make sure to shave the fiber almost all the way down to the cladding.  

'''Step 2'''

'''Step 2'''