The FGC-P Fiber Coating Geometry System is the fast, reliable solution for measuring the geometry characteristics of optical fiber coatings.
The FGC-P provides a direct measurement of fiber coating geometry parameters including:
- coating diameter,
- coating non-circularity, and
- coating-cladding concentricity.
It can handle fibers with a coating diameter from 100 µm to 260 µm, being able to measure outer and inner coating layers.
The fast and user friendly nature of the FGC-P make it well suited to both production and R&D environments, maintaining excellent levels of repeatability and reliability.


The FGC-P uses a novel liquid cell design that allows it to repeatably measure even very thin fibers, including polarisation maintaining (PM) fibers.
The fiber under test is rotated through 360°, and measured at user-defined intervals, to minimise any measurement uncertainty caused by any asymmetry of the fiber. The ability to measure coatings in up to 36 different radial positions ensures the highest levels of accuracy and reliability for the measurement of diameter, circularity and concentricity.
The FGC-P Fiber Coating Geometry System is fully standards compliant, and uses the side-view reference test method described in IEC-60793-1-21. The FGC-P analyses the side-view grey-scale intensity profile to determine the positions of the coating and cladding boundaries using high-speed video and image processing techniques. The fiber under test is rotated through 360°, and measured at user-defined intervals, to minimise any measurement uncertainty caused by any asymmetry of the fiber.
Measurement Capability | |
---|---|
Fiber Type | SM, MM, PM |
Coating Material | Dual acrylate |
Coating Diameter | 100 µm to 260 µm |
Layer Thickness | > 10 µm |
Measurement Time* | < 10 s per angular position |
Angular Positions | Customisable, 8 to 36 |
Repeatability** | |
---|---|
Outer Coating Diameter | < 0.5 µm |
Outer Coating Non-Circularity | < 0.5% |
Inner Coating Diameter | < 0.8 µm |
Inner Coating Non-Circularity | < 0.8% |
Outer Coating-to-Cladding Concentricity | < 0.5 µm |
Inner Coating-to-Cladding Concentricity | < 0.8 µm |
Optical | |
---|---|
Illumination – Side View | Darkfield, 525 nm |
Max Field of View | 580 µm |
Image Sensor | 1.1-inch CMOS, 4112 x 3008 pixels resolution |
Exposure Range | 0.1 ms to 100 ms exposure time |
Physical | |
---|---|
Weight | 6 kg (with carry case 12 kg ) |
Size | 0.5 x 0.2 x 0.2 m |
Operating Temp*** | 10 – 30° C |
Power Supply | 15 V (external power supply supplied) |
Power Consumption | 60 W |
Computer Requirements | All FGC systems are supplied with a computer running up-to-date Windows operating system |
Data Interface | 1 X USB 3.0 (USB B to USB A: 1 m cable supplied) |
*Analysing 100 scan lines and averaging 5 images
**Repeatability is measured using a 125/245 dual acrylate coated MM fiber sample over 12 angular positions without removing from the FGC-P
***Performance specification validated at 22° C
Part number | Description |
---|---|
FGC-P | FGC-P Fiber Coating Geometry System for measurement of optical fibers with diameters up to 260 µm. Including optical unit; 3 x FGC-P-FTA-245 tube assemblies; 3 x FGC-P-FTA-200 tube assemblies; 3 x FGC-P-FTA-100 tube assemblies; 3 x FGC-P-GLA tube packs; 1 x FGC-P-IL-1.5840 bottle of immersion liquid; 1 x FGC-P-TM tube storage block; 1 x FGC-P-CC carrying case; cables; computer pre-installed with system software |
FGC-P-GLA | Glass tubes, pack of 10, replacement for use in FGC-P-FTA Fiber Tube Assembly |
FGC-P-IL-1.5600 | Bottle of Immersion liquid, 10 ml, ( Refractive Index = 1.5600) for refilling FGC-P tube assembly |
FGC-P-IL-1.5840 | Bottle of Immersion liquid, 10 ml, ( Refractive Index = 1.5600) for refilling FGC-P tube assembly |
FGC-P-IL-1.6000 | Bottle of Immersion liquid, 10 ml, ( Refractive Index = 1.6000) for refilling FGC-P tube assembly |
FGC-P-FTA-245 | FGC-P Fiber Tube Assembly for 245 µm coatings, contains glass tube plus upper and lower fiber guides with 270 µm ferrule fitted |
FGC-P-FTA-200 | FGC-P Fiber Tube Assembly for 200 µm coatings, contains glass tube plus upper and lower fiber guides with 230 µm ferrule fitted |
FGC-P-FTA-100 | FGC-P Fiber Tube Assembly for 100 µm coatings, contains glass tube plus upper and lower fiber guides with 126 µm ferrule fitted |
FGC-P-FTA-CUST | FGC-P Fiber Tube Assembly for custom fiber coatings, contains glass tube plus upper and lower fiber guides with custom ferrule fitted |
FGC-P-TM | FGC-P glass tube storage block, for holding 6 tube assemblies |
FGC-P-GUEW3 | FGC-P extended warranty covering parts and labour for 3 years from purchase, return to base. Cover excludes camera |
FGC-P-GUEW5 | FGC-P extended warranty covering parts and labour for 5 years from purchase, return to base. Cover excludes camera |
FGC-P-CC | FGC-P rigid carrying case |