A small precision housing that aligns two cleaved fibers in a V-groove or capillary and clamps them, with index-matching gel filling the gap. It needs only a cleaver and the splice itself, so it is used for quick restorations and low-volume jobs. Loss runs a few tenths of a dB and the joint shows a small reflection, so high-speed singlemode and analog video links prefer fusion.
Throw a mechanical splice in to get the hospital back up tonight, we'll come back and fusion it in the window.
Also heard as
- mech splice
Do not mix it up with
- Fusion splice: A fusion splice welds the glass with an arc, giving lower loss and no meaningful reflection.
Related terms
Index-matching gel
A clear gel with nearly the same refractive index as fiber, used to fill gaps between fiber ends.
Fusion splice
A permanent joint made by melting two cleaved fiber ends together with an electric arc.
Cleave
To break a stripped fiber in a controlled way so its end is flat, mirror-smooth and square to the axis.
Reflectance
The fraction of light reflected by a single event such as a connector, in dB, where more negative is better.