Connectorized nano-engineered optical fibers and method for forming them
are disclosed. The methods include heating a mid-span bare fiber portion
of the nano-engineered fiber to collapse the airlines therein so as to
form an airline-free portion. The fiber is then inserted into a ferrule
channel so that the fiber end protrudes beyond the ferrule end face, but
with the airline-free portion positioned at the ferrule end face. The
fiber is then cleaved at or near the ferrule end face in the airline-free
portion, and the new fiber end face polished to create a solid fiber end
face that coincides with the ferrule end face. The methods result in at
most only minimal changes to the mode field diameter (MFD) and/or to the
outer cladding diameter, which is essential in forming a connectorized
nano-engineered fiber that can connect to like-size nano-engineered or
non-nano-engineered fibers.