Polishing Films available from Stock
AMS Technologies offers various types of polishing film for fiber optic connectors that can be used with a variety of fiber optics polishing equipment. Our spectrum of films available from stock ranges from polishing films with very coarse grain for grinding and glue removal to special films for producing spherical geometry or fine polishing of the surface to films with very fine grain for final polishing to generate endfaces with very low return loss.

Our polishing films are designed for long cycle time and can be used for PC and APC polishing. The films are available in the standard 127 mm circular format, but also as sheet or roll or even in custom formats on request.

Use the filters below to select the appropriate application, film material (Aluminium Oxide, Silicon Carbide, Silicon Dioxide or Diamond), grit and ferrule material to find the best polishing film for your application. Accessories for polishing films such as hand polish pads or glass polish plates are also available from stock.

Product Portfolio
In addition to the in-stock range, the AMS Technologies portfolio includes batch process polishing films that can do batch processing from adhesive or resin removal up until the final polishing with a single polishing machine in one step – by putting together all the necessary films for all polishing in one polishing film. Customizing is available for various types of ferrule.

Related Products
Our fiber optics polishing films are suitable for use with our broad portfolio of fiber optics polishing equipment, ranging from hand polishing discs to portable polishers and field polishing kits to automated and mass connector polishing machines.

The main applications for our polishing films are optical fiber endfaces of fiber connectors mounted on optical fiber patch cables, bundles and assemblies that are manufactured using single mode (SM), multi mode (MM) or polarization maintaining (PM) optical fibers. This product portfolio is further complemented by a range of fiber connector parts and corresponding mating sleeves and adapters as well as a large array of cleaning tools.

AMS Technologies can also offer an end-to-end solution for the assembly and test of optical connectors that is exactly tailored to your requirements. In our broad portfolio you can find tools for stripping and cleaving your fibers, gluing and curing the fiber into the connector and finally testing the results of assembling, polishing and cleaning your connector with microscopes, interferometers as well as handheld and automated test equipment measuring return loss.

Definition
Polishing films are specifically optimised for one application: polishing a fiber connector after the fiber has been bonded into the ferrule. Polishing or lapping films consist of a substrate coated with tiny particles of a specific substance – like diamond, aluminium oxide, silicon carbide or silicon dioxide – in a defined grain size.

Which of the polishing materials is used depends on the material of the ferrule to be polished. For example, diamond films are particularly suitable for ceramic or zirconia ferrules, and films with silicon dioxide for the final polishing of these ferrules. Films with aluminium oxide or silicon carbide are mainly used for stainless steel ferrules.

Moving the end of the fiber connector over the polishing film removes excess material and polishes the end face of the fiber. In successive polishing steps, different grades of polishing film with different grit sizes are used - each polishing step uses finer grit film than the previous one.

The polishing steps can be roughly divided into the following phases:

• Glue Removal and Grinding
• Coarse Polishing
• Fine Polishing
• Final Polishing

For the polishing process, the polishing film is usually wetted with liquid and the fiber is manually moved over the film in a figure-of-eight motion with the aid of suitable polishing discs or "polishing pucks". However, polishing films can also be used in automated systems for polishing several connectors in parallel.

Alternative Terms: Lapping Film; Grinding Film; Abrasive Film; Finishing Film; Connector Polishing Film; Diamond Sheet; Lapping Sheet; Polishing Sheet; Final Polishing Sheet