Reproducible Method for Fabricating Fused Biconical Tapered Couplers Using a CO2 Laser Based Process

Fused biconic taper (FBT) couplers are essential elements in any fibre-optic communications network. We describe two prototype manufacturing process that produces low-loss fibre tapers and fused FBT coupler devices using CO2 lasers as the heat source instead of a flame, as is the norm in modern manufacturing methods. The methods could potentially be exploited to increase the degree of automation of manufacture of these important devices.