Research On Surface Metalization Of Optical Fiber Grating

As a kind of new-type fine passive device of optic fiber, the optic fiber grating is extensively applied to non-destructive inspection and long-term health monitoring in a lot of fields, such as navigation, civil engineering, petroleum, electricity and chemical medicine, etc. However, nowadays the package and actual engineering application of optical fiber grating sensors cannot be realized without the macromolecule glue, the aging ability of macromolecule glue restricts the wear capability of optical fiber grating sensor; and the glue will be softened or even broken up, when it was applied in higher than 300 degrees Centigrade, while lots of more harsh monitoring environments' temperature have exceeded this range. In one word, the hermeticallity, cohere intensity, durability and heat resistance can't meet the demands by using this package technology in the harsh environment. In order to improve the measurement accuracy of the optic fiber grating and make it can be applied to more high-temperature, need to protect the quartz optic fiber grating by metallized it's surface, then fixed and packaged it by metallization technology.Metallization packaging the optic fiber grating after electrolessed nickel plating on its surface, need well cohesion and solderable, and the nickel layer could be applied to weld after reaching certain thickness. In this paper, a combined technique with electroless Ni plating process and subsequently electroplating Sn process was used to metalize the surface of optical fiber to meet the requirements for welding.(1) Pre-treatment of the fiber surfaceOptical fiber surface should be actived by pre-treatment before elcctroless plating. During pre-treatment, etching solution and etching time were considered.(2) Electroless Ni plating on the surface of optical fiberBased on the analysis of essential composition of plating solution, the chemicals of making up the electroless plating solution were chosen. Through the perpendicular experiments, the optimum technical parameters and conditions were acquired. Also, the influences of them were studied.(3) Subsequent electroplating Sn The electroplating Sn was carried out based on the electroless plating layer as a substrate. In this section, the research put the emphasis on the influences of current density on deposition rate and the quality of electroplating Layer.