ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Q1. THROUGH Q33.

A1. Splice.
A2. Poor fiber end preparation and poor fiber alignment.
A3.
A4. Yes.
A5. A step change in refractive index that occurs at fiber joints, caused by fiber separation.
A6. Index matching gel.
A7. Fiber separation (longitudinal misalignment), lateral misalignment, and angular misalignment.
A8. Angular misalignment.
A9. (a) Reduces coupling loss, (b) does not change coupling loss, and (c) increases coupling loss.
A10. Single mode.
A11. Be flat, smooth, and perpendicular to the fiber axis.
A12. Score-and-break.
A13. Flat.
A14. Core diameter mismatch, cladding diameter mismatch, core ellipticity, core and cladding concentricity differences, NA mismatch, and refractive index profile differences.
A15. No.
A16. A permanent fiber joint whose purpose is to establish an optical connection between two individual optical fibers.
A17. Mechanical and fusion splicing.
A18. An epoxy resin that seals mechanical splices and provides index matching between the connected fibers.
A19. It is a low-loss mechanical splice that provides stable environmental and mechanical performance in the Navy environment, and it requires only a small amount of training.

A20. The angles and quality of the two fiber-end faces.
A21. The small size of the fusion splice and the development of automated fusion-splicing machines.
A22. Prefusion.
A23. Single mode fibers.
A24. Poor fiber alignment and end preparation, fiber mismatches, and Fresnel reflection.
A25. Fiber alignment.
A26. Modal and reflection.
A27. Butt-jointed connectors.
A28. Butt-jointed connectors.
A29. Expanded beam connectors.
A30. Light-duty and heavy-duty connectors.
A31. Passive couplers redistribute optical signals without optical-to-electrical conversion.
A32. T-coupler.
A33. A fiber optic coupler that prevents the transfer of power between input fibers.