Patent ID: 7458734

Claim:
A method for joining a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber, the first optical fiber comprising a core and a cladding surrounding the core, a first end portion of the first optical fiber comprising a first mating end surface, wherein the cladding of the first end portion comprises a first plurality of holes disposed near the first mating end surface, the second optical fiber comprising a core and a cladding surrounding the core, a second end portion of the second optical fiber comprising a second mating end surface, the method comprising: heating a length of the first end portion and a length of the second end portion to between 1700 and 2700° K. for greater than 500 msec, wherein the first end portion does not contact the second end portion, and wherein first and second end portions are not fused together; moving the first and second mating end surfaces into mutual contact in a coaxial abutting relationship; and fusing together the first and second end portions while the first and second optical fibers contact each other.