Specs
Reliability Tests Made To Bellcore GR 1221 Standards
1. Description of Tests
Thermal Shock:
ΔT; = 100°C liquid to liquid
Dwell times at extremes >30 minutes
Transfer time between extremes <2 minutes
20 cycles
Mechanical Shock:
Drop height of 1.8 m in a metal container filled with glass beads
8 drops for 3 axes
5 repetitions
High Temperature Storage (Dry Heat):
80°C storage temperature, modified to accommodate material specs
<40% relative humidity
2,000 hours
High Temperature Storage (Damp Heat):
75°C storage temperature
100% relative humidity
500 hours
Low Temperature Storage:
-40°C storage temperature
Uncontrolled humidity
2,000 hours
2. Pass/Fail Criteria
In order to determine pass/fail criteria for the tests, the Bellcore Standard 1221 - Generic Reliability Assurance Requirements for Passive Optical Components was consulted. Requirement R4-19 states:
R4-19 - Optical criteria shall be measured before and after screening.
Any major changes (as defined and documented by the equipment supplier, in addition to
pass/fail criteria) shall result in rejection of a device.
O4-20 (a desirable objective) states:
O4-20 - The pass/fail criteria should be no more than a 20% change on the specified parameter.
Therefore, for the purposes of these reliability tests, a change in coupling to 60:40 or 40:60 from an initial coupling ratio of 50:50 would be considered a device failure. A catastrophic failure is defined as a complete loss of coupling.
In order for a device to successfully complete a reliability test, 11 samples must undergo the test without any devices failing.
3. Experimental Error
Sources of experimental error in the measurement setup include, but are not limited too; launching of the plane polarized light off axis into the coupler, ambient temperature, fiber pigtail layout, misalignment of the output ends in the detector, and polarizer extinction ratio. The experimental error in the measurement of the coupling ratio has been determined to be s = 0.1%.
4. Results
Final Tests
| Test | # of Samples Tested | # Passed | # Failed | # Catostrophic Failures | Status of Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal Shock | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Complete |
| Mechanical Shock | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Complete |
| High Temperature Dry (after 2,000 hours) | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Complete |
| High Temperature Damp (after 500 hours) | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Complete |
| Low Temperature (after 2,000 hours) | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Complete |
| Cyclic Moisture Resistance | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Complete |
Special Note:
A durability test was performed in addition to these reliability tests. One model 954P coupler was placed on a thin aluminum plate and was run over 5 times by a Ford F-150 pickup truck, without any change in performance.