Laser-ablated fiber devices and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

A manufacturing method of a laser-ablated fiber device is proposed. The fiber cladding is removed by laser beam until the evanescent field is accessed. The depth of ablation is controlled by measuring the distance between the interference fringes of the laser. The effective interaction length is tuned by varying the radius of curvature of the fiber. The ablated fibers are mated to act as a fiber coupler. Subsequently, the interaction region is fused or fused-tapered to make a fiber coupler, an add/drop multiplexer, a fiber filter, etc.