Abstract
We present a method with potential for fabricating freeform air-silica optical fibre preforms which is free from the stacking constraints associated with conventional stack-anddraw. The method, termed Axi-Stack, is enabled by the precision machining of short crosssectional preform discs by ultrafast laser assisted etching; a laser-based microfabrication technique which facilitates near arbitrary shaping of the preform structure. Several preform discs are stacked axially and fused together via ultrafast laser welding to construct the preform, which can be drawn to fibre using conventional methods. To illustrate the Axi-Stack process, we detail the fabrication of a 30 cm long solid-core photonic crystal fibre preform with a square lattice of cladding holes and characterise fibre drawn from it.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 922-931 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Optics Express |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 22 Dec 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Data availability. Data underlying the results presented in this paper are available in Ref. [49].Funding
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/V000403/1); Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S000410/1, EP/T020903/1). The authors thank Light Conversion for their support. The fibre design of Fig. 4A was proposed by J. Jones in 2002.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | EP/S000410/1, EP/T020903/1 |
| Science and Technology Facilities Council | ST/V000403/1 |
