Applications

SEM image for laser scribed SMF-28 optical fiber (left) and detailed surface topography measured with an optical profiler. Courtesy of RMIT University, Melbourne.

Corresponding surface profile and tilt angles are mapped over the fiber end face with the global average θ_g and center values θ_c. Courtesy of RMIT University, Melbourne.

Fiber cleaving is an important technique in the area of fiber optics. A femtosecond laser-based scribing procedure has been demonstrated for cleaving silica optical fiber. As a proof of concept, SMF 28 fiber was scribed by femtosecond laser pulses and then placed under tension to initiate cleaving. The resulting end faces were measured using a noncontact optical interferometer. The laser-scribed fibers had a total height variation of 12 µm versus 17 µm for the mechanically scribed fibers and were free of rounding and melting around the edges. Thus the cleaved end face produced by femtosecond laser scribing has superior quality in terms of flatness, smoothness, and symmetry compared to mechanical scribing. The technique also has important potential advantages compared to laser cleaving based on melting. With further development, this technique has the potential to be used for automated cleaving of specialty fibers and multi-fiber arrays with comparable cleave quality.