Open AccessUltrafast laser ablation of a multicore polymer optical fiber for multipoint light emission
Author(s) -
Harikumar K. Chandrasekharan,
E. P. McShane,
Kevin Dhaliwal,
Robert R. Thomson,
Michael G. Tanner
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.424494
Subject(s) - optics , materials science , ultrashort pulse , laser , optoelectronics , optical fiber , core (optical fiber) , photonics , laser ablation , fiber laser , physics
We demonstrate the use of ultrafast laser pulses to precisely ablate the side of polymer multicore optical fibres (MCF) in such a way that light is efficiently coupled out of a set of MCF cores to free space. By individually exciting sets of MCF cores, this flexible "micro-window" technology allows the controllable generation of light sources at multiple independently selectable locations along the MCF. We found that the maximum fraction of light that could be side coupled from the MCF varied between 55% and 73%.