Fabrication of multipoint side-firing optical fiber by laser micro-ablation

作者：Hoang Nguyen; Arnob Md Masud Parvez; Becker Aaron T; Wolfe John C; Hogan Matthew K; Horner Philip J; Shih Wei Chuan^*

来源：Optics Letters, 2017, 42(9): 1808-1811.

DOI：10.1364/OL.42.001808

A multipoint, side-firing design enables an optical fiber to output light at multiple desired locations along the fiber body. This provides advantages over traditional end-toend fibers, especially in applications requiring fiber bundles such as brain stimulation or remote sensing. This Letter demonstrates that continuous wave (CW) laser micro-ablation can controllably create conical-shaped cavities, or side windows, for outputting light. The dimensions of these cavities determine the amount of firing light and their firing angle. Experimental data show that a single side window on a 730 mu m fiber can deliver more than 8% of the input light. This can be increased to more than 19% on a 65 mu m fiber with side windows created using femtosecond laser ablation and chemical etching. Fine control of light distribution along an optical fiber is critical for various biomedical applications such as light-activated drug-release and optogenetics studies.

• 出版日期2017-5-1