Microlens fibers fabricated by a melting-tapering process using a CO2 laser

Hemispherical microlenses have been fabricated at the end of a single-mode optical fiber by a new two-steps method which uses only a continuous CO2 laser. In the first step, the fiber is heated by the laser and stretched until its split resulting in two symmetrical tapers. In the second step, we form the microlenses by laser melting the taper ends. Parameters of heating and stretching are automated and optimized to ensure the reproducibility. The microlens characterization, including the focal length and beam waist measurements, has been performed. It shows the interest of the microlens-fiber to several applications.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.