3D Printing Technology for Tapered Optical Fiber Protection With Gas Sensing Possibilities
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3D Printing Technology for Tapered Optical Fiber Protection With Gas Sensing Possibilities Kaleb Roncatti de SOUZA, Jonas H. OSÓRIO, Juliana B. CARVALHO, Beatriz Mota LIMA, and Cristiano M. B. CORDEIRO * Gleb Wataghin Physics Institute, State University of Campinas, Campinas 13083-970, Brazil *
Corresponding author: Cristiano M. B. CORDEIRO
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: We present a new procedure for protecting micro-optical fibers (tapered fibers) by using the 3-dimension (3D) printing technology. A standard single-mode optical fiber was tapered down to the diameter of 1 μm and embedded in a polymeric matrix obtained by an additive manufacturing routine. We show that the proposed structure protects the fiber taper against environmental humidity while keeping permeability to gas flow and the possibility of the realization of gas detection experiments. To our knowledge, this is the first time 3D printed casings were applied to protect fiber tapers from humidity deterioration. We envisage this new approach will allow the development of new fiber taper devices to better resist in humid environments. Keywords: 3D printing; additive manufacturing; optical fiber; tapered fibers; sensing Citation: Kaleb Roncatti de SOUZA, Jonas H. OSÓRIO, Juliana B. CARVALHO, Beatriz Mota LIMA, and Cristiano M. B. CORDEIRO, “3D Printing Technology for Tapered Optical Fiber Protection With Gas Sensing Possibilities,” Photonic Sensors, DOI: 10.1007/s13320-020-0592-3.
1. Introduction Recently, the field of optic fiber sensors has experienced significant development, and nowadays, it consists of a highly active scientific and technological area. Thus, optical fibers have demonstrated themselves to be an excellent platform for obtaining a wide variety of sensors to probe parameters such as temperature, hydrostatic pressure, strain, and refractive index. Key advantages of optical fibers sensors are their inherent electromagnetic immunity, high sensitivity, compactness, and the capability of being used in harsh environments [1]. Several configurations can be used for fiber optics sensing activity. Microstructured optical fibers (optical fibers endowed with special
arrangements of air holes which run along the whole fiber length) [2] assume a prominent position due to their vast design versatility, which allows them to have specific and tailorable properties [3]. On the other hand, standard optical fibers (without cross-sectional microstructures) can also be used as sensors if set in specific configurations, such as in SMS (single mode-multimode-single mode) configurations [4], or post-processed (for example, via the utilization of fiber gratings [5] and tapered fibers [6, 7]). Fiber tapers are optical fibers that have their dimensions reduced in a controllable fashion. They can be obtained by using fusion splicers [8], ceramic micro-heaters [9], CO2 lasers [10], or by using so-called flame brushing technique [11]. In the latter, an oscillating flame heats a well-defined region of
Received: 15 October 2019 / Revised: 14 May 2020 © T
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