Femtosecond laser and arc discharge induced microstructuring on optical fiber tip for the multidirectional firing.

Abstract

Most optical fibers are designed for forward firing i.e. the light is emitted at the distal end along the optical axis of the fiber. In some applications such as the laser surgery and laser scanners, side firing of the optical fiber is required. In this paper, we present the microstructuring of an optical fiber tip using the femtosecond laser and an arc discharging process for the multidirectional firing of the beam. The distal end of the optical fiber with diameter of 125 μm was machined into a conical structure using a femtosecond laser. The surface of the machined tip was exposed to the arc discharge using a fiber splicer. The arc discharge leads to the melting and re-solidification of the fiber tip. This results in a smoothing of laser-induced conical microstructure at the tip of the fiber. We were able to demonstrate the multidirectional (circumferential) emission of the light from the developed fiber tip.

• Authors: Ik-Bu Sohn, Youngseop Kim, Young-Chul Noh, In Won Lee, Jun Ki Kim, Ho Lee
• Journal: Optics express (Opt Express) Vol. 18 Issue 19 Pg. 19755-60 (Sep 13 2010) ISSN: 1094-4087 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 20940870 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Equipment Design
• Equipment Failure Analysis
• Fiber Optic Technology (instrumentation)
• Lasers
• Lighting (instrumentation)
• Miniaturization