Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group
Journal Home About Issues in Progress Current Issue All Issues Feature Issues

Ultrafast laser ablation of a multicore polymer optical fiber for multipoint light emission

Harikumar K. Chandrasekharan, Eunan P. McShane, Kevin Dhaliwal, Robert R. Thomson, and Michael G. Tanner

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

We demonstrate the use of ultrafast laser pulses to precisely ablate the side of polymer multicore optical fibres (MCF) in such a way that light is efficiently coupled out of a set of MCF cores to free space. By individually exciting sets of MCF cores, this flexible “micro-window” technology allows the controllable generation of light sources at multiple independently selectable locations along the MCF. We found that the maximum fraction of light that could be side coupled from the MCF varied between 55% and 73%.

Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Observation of split evanescent field distributions in tapered multicore fibers for multiline nanoparticle trapping and microsensing

Dong Yan, Zhen Tian, Nan-Kuang Chen, Liqiang Zhang, Yicun Yao, Yanru Xie, Perry Ping Shum, Kenneth T. V. Grattan, and Daqin Wang
Opt. Express 29(6) 9532-9543 (2021)

Multicore composite single-mode polymer fibre

Sergio G. Leon-Saval, Richard Lwin, and Alexander Argyros
Opt. Express 20(1) 141-148 (2012)

Ultrafast-laser inscription of a three dimensional fan-out device for multicore fiber coupling applications

R. R. Thomson, H. T. Bookey, N. D. Psaila, A. Fender, S. Campbell, W. N. MacPherson, J. S. Barton, D. T. Reid, and A. K. Kar
Opt. Express 15(18) 11691-11697 (2007)

View More...

Supplementary Material (2)

NameDescription
Visualization 1       A video of automated emission of light from 91 points in a multicore fibre. The pitch of the emission points is 1 cm. The automated coupling is achieved using a laser coupled 2D Galvo-mirror system. This media file corresponds to Figure 2 in the manu
Visualization 2       Different side image intensity distributions in one coupling condition for an emission point. Light is coupled to one emission point and images of the ping-pong ball is taken at different angles with respect to the emission point.

Data availability

Data underlying the results presented in this paper are available in Ref. [35].

35. H. K. Chandrasekharan, “Ultrafast laser ablation of a multicore polymer optical fibre for multipoint light emission,” Heriot-Watt University (2021), https://doi.org/10.17861/dd4ad1f9-ce71-4ba4-93dc-0a22fa639fca

Cited By

Optica participates in Crossref's Cited-By Linking service. Citing articles from Optica Publishing Group journals and other participating publishers are listed here.

Alert me when this article is cited.


Figures (5)
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. fs-micromachining setup used to create micro-ablated regions at discrete locations along the fibre length. The inset image shows the distal end profile of the POF following the fs-processing. The distal end is imaged during the machining process to ensure the desired ablation profile is obtained.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. (a) Experimental setup for micro-window characterisation. (b) CCD image of Fibre A with 12 micro-windows under white light flood illumination at the proximal end, ∼ 25 cm horizontal field of view. The red arrow indicates the direction of light propagation. (c-f) CCD images showing the distinct light emission from four micro-windows (2, 4, 6 & 10 respectively) under different input coupling conditions. Same scale in b, c, d, e, and f. (g) Micrograph of the fibre facet. (h-j) Micrographs of micro-windows; top view (h), side view (i) and cross-sectional view (j). See the movie Visualization 1 for automated selection of 91 emission points in Fibre B.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. (a-c) Simulation model illustrating light behaviour at the micro-window depending upon the light incident angle and the geometry of the micro-window. (d-g) Radar plots showing the normalised power distribution around the circumference of the fibre (Fibre A) for 4 micro-windows. The absolute location of the micro-window is set at 0 degrees.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. (a-d) (blue dotted box) Normalised emission profiles from a micro-window for 4 different input coupling conditions. The white arrow in the top left indicates the light propagation direction. The title in each column represents the angle of the camera relative to the micro-window for side imaging. The location of the micro-window is set centrally facing out of the page (0°) for a-d. Scale bar: 20 mm. (black dotted box) The front and back images were taken with a different camera and separately normalised. Scale bar: 20 mm. See the animation Visualization 2 of the different side image intensity distributions in one coupling condition.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Emission characterisation of the micro-windows measured using a cutback technique.

Download Full Size | PDF

Select as filters
Select Topics Cancel
Top
       
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Privacy | Terms of Use