A microstructured polymer optical fiber doped with Rhodamine 6G dye was fabricated and demonstrated as an optical amplifier and a fiber laser. As an amplifier, the fiber achieved a gain in excess of 30 dB. As a pulsed fiber laser, the fiber exhibited a threshold of 20 microJ, a slope efficiency of 18%, and a lifetime as high as 130,000 shots at 10 Hz. The maximum output energy was 16 microJ. Th...

We report on the fabrication and optical assessment of an all-solid tellurite-glass photonic bandgap fiber. The manufacturing process via a preform drawing approach and the fiber characterization procedures are described and discussed. The fiber exhibits some minor morphological deformations that do not prevent the observation of optical confinement within the fiber by bandgap effects. The expe...

A method is reported for fabricating truly three-dimensional micro-photonic structures directly onto the end face of an optical fiber using the cross-linkable resist SU-8. This epoxide-based material is well suited for micro-device fabrication because it is photo-processed as a solid and the cross-linked material is mechanically robust, chemically resistant, and optically transparent. Yet, proc...

i Controlled Fabrication System of Fabry-Perot Optical Fiber Sensors by Wei Huo Anbo Wang, Chairman The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech

We report on the use of a multi-core fiber (MCF) for accurate sensing of temperature, strain, bending, and vibrations in real-world environments and under harsh conditions including temperatures up to 1000 oC. OCIS codes: (060.2370) Fiber optics sensors; (280.4788) Optical sensing and sensors; (060.4005) Microstructured fibers; (060.2280) Fiber design and fabrication.

Exposing an optical fiber core to the measurand surrounding the fiber is often used to enhance the sensitivity of an optical fiber sensor. This paper reports on the rapid fabrication of microstructures in an optical fiber using a CO₂ laser system which help exposing the optical fiber core to the measurand. The direct-write CO₂ laser system used is originally designed for engraving the polymeric...

A new method of making 3-D objects is proposed. A discharge lamp is used as a UV light source, and to make the fabrication time shorter, multiple spots exposure using optical fibers is employed. The light is distributed to some optical fibers. The output side of each fiber is arrayed linearly and the emitted lights are focused on the surface of the photosensitive resin. As the fiber array is ra...

Currently, the optical fiber sensors are becoming more attractive as the domotics and the intelligent networks are being developed and installed. There are a lot of applications in which the advantages of the optical sensors overcome those of common electronic ones, like electromagnetic immunity, or safety in explosive or unstable environments. Most of the times, the price is still a handicap, ...

We present a method of helical long-period fiber grating (H-LPFG) fabrication by use of a CO2 laser for use as an optical torque sensor. A conventional optical fiber grating has periodic vertical index changes along its fiber axis, but a H-LPFG has a screw-type index modulation. The helical index modulation is obtained with the asymmetric index change caused by a single-side laser beam exposure...

We report a spatial heterodyne Fourier-transform spectrometer implemented with an array of optical fiber interferometers. This configuration generates a wavelength-dependent stationary interferogram from which the input spectrum is retrieved in a single shot without scanning elements. Furthermore, fabrication and experimental deviations from the ideal behavior of the device are corrected by spe...