Passive fiber-optic components made by the fused biconical taper process

The rapid development and deployment of optical fiber for a variety of applications has resulted in a similarly rapid development of myriad components to effectively utilize the fiber. Thus, for example, significant work has been done over the past several years in the development of sources and detectors, connectors, and splices. These components share the common trait of being external to the fiber and hence not part of the fiber per se. Another class of components, however, is made from the fiber itself. A number of components, such as polarizers, analyzers, and mode or wavelength filters, require only simple bending of the fiber in a specified manner. On the other hand, such techniques as polishing, etching, and heating can also be used to alter the transmission properties of the fiber.

While a number of interesting devices have been made by these procedures, the present paper is limited to devices made by the biconical taper process. If a fiber is heated and stretched, a biconical taper is formed, which can significantly alter the transmission characteristics of the fiber. Interesting wavelength filters and sensors can be made with single tapers or combinations of tapers. Moreover, if two or more tapered fibers are fused, then coupling of light from one fiber to another can be achieved. The tapering and fusing processes can be used to make wavelength-enhanced couplers, which can be used as wavelength-division multiplexers or nearly wavelength-independent couplers or splitters.

In this paper, we discuss the components made by the biconical taper process, their fabrication, in both theory and practice, and their performance. Practical implementations of these components are also discussed, including their manufacturability and reliability.