Characterising Optical Fibres and Waveguides by High Resolution Microscopy

Abstract

The development of optical fibre technology has had a revolutionary impact on telecommunications. In conjunction with that revolution researchers have developed a wide variety of optical fibre sensors. For both of these technologies, the analysis of high quality images of fibres and waveguides gives information crucial to the optimisation and improved manufacture of these devices. In this paper we demonstrate the capabilities of confocal fluorescence microscopy, and DIC microscopy to obtain high quality information on dopant concentration and refractive index. The development of optical fibre devices for optical communications has shown a general trend towards devices with smaller, finer, an..