Laser micromachined and acid-etched Fabry-Perot cavities in silica fibres

V. R. Machavaram; C. J. Tuck; M. C. Teagle; R. A. Badcock; G. F. Fernando

doi:10.1117/12.638714

16 January 2006 Laser micromachined and acid-etched Fabry-Perot cavities in silica fibres

V. R. Machavaram, C. J. Tuck, M. C. Teagle, R. A. Badcock, G. F. Fernando

Proceedings Volume 6038, Photonics: Design, Technology, and Packaging II; 60380D (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.638714
Event: Microelectronics, MEMS, and Nanotechnology, 2005, Brisbane, Australia

Abstract

This paper reports on two techniques for creating Fabry-Perot cavities in conventional single- and multi-mode optical fibres. The authors have reported previously on the design and fabrication of extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot interferometric multi-functional sensors. Here, the authors report on two novel techniques for creating intrinsic fibre optic sensors based on the Fabry-Perot etalon. The first technique involved the use of hydrofluoric acid to preferentially etch the core of the optical fibre. This technique is simple to carry out and provides a cost-effective means for manufacturing intrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot sensors. In the second technique, a 157 nm excimer laser along with a custom-designed beam delivery system was used to ablate (micro-machine) near-paralleled walled cavities through the diameter of the optical fibre (outer diameter of 125 μm). The paper details the experimental methodology and the associated instrumentation for the two techniques. The acid etched and laser ablated cavities were characterised using a 3-D surface profiler, optical and scanning electron microscopy. The feasibility of using these cavities as intrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot strain sensors is demonstrated. This was achieved by surface-mounting the acid etched cavities on to composite tensile test specimens. The output from the optical fibre devices was compared with surface-mounted electrical resistance strain gauges.

Citation Download Citation

V. R. Machavaram, C. J. Tuck, M. C. Teagle, R. A. Badcock, and G. F. Fernando "Laser micromachined and acid-etched Fabry-Perot cavities in silica fibres", Proc. SPIE 6038, Photonics: Design, Technology, and Packaging II, 60380D (16 January 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.638714

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