employ bevelled ferrules the preferred embodiment of the present invention overcomes these difficulties by imposing a gap between optical fibers by choosing ferrule materials that have a damage threshold at least as great as the optical fibers and lastly by having bevels on the ferrules to reduce generation of debris and to provide additional space where debris may travel without affecting performance fig1 illustrates the optical coupler 50 of the preferred embodiment the coupler 50 is comprised of an adapter 30 and first and second optical connectors 10a and 10b respectively the adapter 30 acts as an interface between the connectors 10a and 10b in the first optical connector 10a an optical fiber 46 passes through an inner cavity 16a and a quartz ferrule 18a the ferrule material is preferably fused quartz or fused silica synthetic fused quartz this quartz ferrule 18a is held in position within the adapter 30 by a positioning sleeve 42 analogously the second optical connector 10b carries an optical fiber 44 through cavity 16b to a second quartz ferrule 18b this optical fiber 44 like its counterpart 46 is positioned within the ferrule 18b that is likewise held by the positioning sleeve 42 the optical fibers 44 and 46 may be multi mode fibers moreover the fibers 44 and 46 may carry high power signals having intensities in excess of 20 megawatts per square centimeter because of these high energies it is preferred that the ends of the fibers which are coupled within the coupler 50 are cleaved and not polished such a cleave may be obtained for example by.