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Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application

Optical fibers offer various applications to cater to industrial needs, from power and data transmission to environmental sensing. Different sensing mechanisms of optical fibers depend on modifications made to the fiber itself primarily in the cladding and core sections. Different types of optical f...

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Main Authors: Arif Riza, Muhammad, Go, Yun Ii, Maier, Robert R J, Harun, Sulaiman Wadi, Ahmad Anas, Siti Barirah
Format: Article
Published: IOP Publishing 2021
Subjects:
TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/26088/
https://doi.org/10.1088/1555-6611/ac3014
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spelling my.um.eprints.260882021-12-29T04:07:14Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/26088/ Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application Arif Riza, Muhammad Go, Yun Ii Maier, Robert R J Harun, Sulaiman Wadi Ahmad Anas, Siti Barirah TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering Optical fibers offer various applications to cater to industrial needs, from power and data transmission to environmental sensing. Different sensing mechanisms of optical fibers depend on modifications made to the fiber itself primarily in the cladding and core sections. Different types of optical fiber sensors may require thinning of the cladding to allow propagated light to interact closer to the environmental stimuli. Chemical etching is commonly used for the de-cladding of a fiber, and there are many ways to execute this method. A conventional method of chemical etching is typically used for cladding removal. This paper reports and discusses the effectiveness of enhanced techniques for improvement towards conventional chemical etching methods with the assistance of a makeshift fiber holder. The fiber holder allows the fiber to be oriented well, allowing for smoother etching and thus conserving its mechanical structure. Thickness reduction is seen to be more consistent when the enhanced technique is employed, and the fiber takes a longer time (∼45 min) to break. This allows etching of the cladding close to the core, which is more manageable for the user if very thin cladding is required. A fiber etched without any holder tends to break earlier (∼35 min) than expected with a rather wide error margin. The lower coefficient of determination, R2 values (95%) of the thickness reduction from conventional etching shows irregular thickness along the fibers. Optical power also fluctuates between 30-35 dBm for the conventional method, while the mounted fiber technique maintains stable optical power at 50 dBm during etching. Therefore, it is concluded that proper fiber horizontal fiber orientation during etching has a significant effect on the fiber strength due to the smooth cladding removal around the corecore while minimizing any permanent power loss to or the occurrence of fluctuations in the fiber. This smooth and efficient etching technique allows the production of enhanced fiber sensors with minimal structural or power defects. © 2021 Astro Ltd IOP Publishing 2021 Article PeerReviewed Arif Riza, Muhammad and Go, Yun Ii and Maier, Robert R J and Harun, Sulaiman Wadi and Ahmad Anas, Siti Barirah (2021) Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application. Laser Physics, 31 (12). p. 126201. ISSN 1054-660X https://doi.org/10.1088/1555-6611/ac3014 doi:10.1088/1555-6611/ac3014
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
spellingShingle TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Arif Riza, Muhammad
Go, Yun Ii
Maier, Robert R J
Harun, Sulaiman Wadi
Ahmad Anas, Siti Barirah
Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
description Optical fibers offer various applications to cater to industrial needs, from power and data transmission to environmental sensing. Different sensing mechanisms of optical fibers depend on modifications made to the fiber itself primarily in the cladding and core sections. Different types of optical fiber sensors may require thinning of the cladding to allow propagated light to interact closer to the environmental stimuli. Chemical etching is commonly used for the de-cladding of a fiber, and there are many ways to execute this method. A conventional method of chemical etching is typically used for cladding removal. This paper reports and discusses the effectiveness of enhanced techniques for improvement towards conventional chemical etching methods with the assistance of a makeshift fiber holder. The fiber holder allows the fiber to be oriented well, allowing for smoother etching and thus conserving its mechanical structure. Thickness reduction is seen to be more consistent when the enhanced technique is employed, and the fiber takes a longer time (∼45 min) to break. This allows etching of the cladding close to the core, which is more manageable for the user if very thin cladding is required. A fiber etched without any holder tends to break earlier (∼35 min) than expected with a rather wide error margin. The lower coefficient of determination, R2 values (95%) of the thickness reduction from conventional etching shows irregular thickness along the fibers. Optical power also fluctuates between 30-35 dBm for the conventional method, while the mounted fiber technique maintains stable optical power at 50 dBm during etching. Therefore, it is concluded that proper fiber horizontal fiber orientation during etching has a significant effect on the fiber strength due to the smooth cladding removal around the corecore while minimizing any permanent power loss to or the occurrence of fluctuations in the fiber. This smooth and efficient etching technique allows the production of enhanced fiber sensors with minimal structural or power defects. © 2021 Astro Ltd
format Article
author Arif Riza, Muhammad
Go, Yun Ii
Maier, Robert R J
Harun, Sulaiman Wadi
Ahmad Anas, Siti Barirah
author_facet Arif Riza, Muhammad
Go, Yun Ii
Maier, Robert R J
Harun, Sulaiman Wadi
Ahmad Anas, Siti Barirah
author_sort Arif Riza, Muhammad
title Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
title_short Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
title_full Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
title_fullStr Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
title_full_unstemmed Enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
title_sort enhanced fiber mounting and etching technique for optimized optical power transmission at critical cladding thickness for fiber-sensing application
publisher IOP Publishing
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/26088/
https://doi.org/10.1088/1555-6611/ac3014
_version_ 1720980440991399936
score 13.211869

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