학술논문

Low-Loss Fluoride Optical Fiber Coupler for Mid-Infrared Applications
Document Type
Periodical
Source
Journal of Lightwave Technology J. Lightwave Technol. Lightwave Technology, Journal of. 42(7):2457-2463 Apr, 2024
Subject
Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Photonics and Electrooptics
Optical fiber couplers
Couplings
Glass
Refractive index
Couplers
Optical fibers
Indium
Coupled mode theory
fused optical fiber components
modeling
optical couplers
soft glasses
Language
ISSN
0733-8724
1558-2213
Abstract
For the first time, a 2 × 2 optical fiber coupler based on indium fluoride optical fibers is designed via coupled mode theory, fabricated via fused biconical tapering technique, and characterized in the mid-infrared spectral range. A conventional glass processing system, Vytran GPX-2400, is employed for the 2 × 2 optical fiber coupler fabrication, overcoming the main limitation related to the narrow temperature range for indium fluoride optical fiber processing. Moreover, the fabricated device exhibits negligible surface crystallizations. The experimental results are in optimum agreement with the simulations, demonstrating that reproducible manufacturing of low-loss fused optical fiber components for the mid-infrared spectral range is possible. In particular, the fabricated 2 × 2 optical fiber coupler is characterized by a measured coupling ratio $C_R = $ 72.2:27.8 at the wavelength $\lambda = \text{3.34}\ \mu \text{m}$, with low excess loss ${E}_L = \ \text{0.88}\ \text{dB}$.