An optical fibre tip with double tapers etched by the interfacial layer

Zilong Liu, Nao Zhang, Yu Tang, Yaxin Liu & Bo Zhang

We fabricate double-tapered optical fibre tips by the interfacial layer etching method. The optical fibre is first etched by means of meniscus-based etching to obtain one-tapered fibre tip, which is etched again by the interfacial layer between the etchant and the overlay to obtain a double-tapered tip. The formation mechanism of the second taper is analysed. The impacts of the interfacial layer etching time, HF concentration and the overlay on the second cone angle are discussed. The second cone angle can be controlled by the interfacial layer etching time and the overlay. But the HF concentration has few impacts on the second cone angle. The double-tapered fibre tips can be applied for the contactless trapping of particles.

DOI