Patent ID: 7419308

Claim:
A method of fabricating a fiber bundle termination with reduced fiber-to-fiber pitch comprising the steps of: (a) fixedly collecting a plurality of fibers into a fiber bundle by threading said fibers through a holder comprising a first endface and a second endface and securing a portion of said fibers in said bundle by filling said holder with a bonding material; (b) etching a portion of said fibers protruding from said holder to an outside diameter less than an original outside diameter of said fibers; (c) providing a collector comprising an internal cavity and a first endface and a second endface, with said cavity being initially non-tapered from said first endface to facilitate injection of a bonding material and then being tapered to said second endface; (d) packing said etched fibers tightly to achieve reduced fiber-to-fiber pitch by threading said etched fibers protruding from said holder through said tapered internal cavity of said collector, starting at first endface of said collector, with said first endface coming in contact with said holder; and (e) filling the non-tapered portion of said cavity of said collector with a bonding material.