Laser welding of fiber array units.

We report the results of fabricating fiber array unit (FAU) connectors using a near IR laser welding process, locking fibers in proper position on planar glass substrates and forming strong glass-to-glass bonds, followed by final assembly using lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) epoxies. A thin metal film deposited on the glass substrate provides the absorption required to attain interfacial temperatures suitable for glass-to-glass bonding. This method allows the elimination of dedicated expensive V-groove plates while still maintaining very good fiber placement accuracy.

Characterizing the Antimicrobial Properties of 405 nm Light and the Corning® Light-Diffusing Fiber Delivery System.

Background And Objectives: Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and multidrug resistant bacteria pose a significant threat to the U.S. healthcare system.

Extraordinary laser-induced swelling of oxide glasses.

We describe a novel process of laser-assisted fabrication of surface structures on doped oxide glasses with heights reaching 10 - 13% of the glass thickness. This effect manifests itself as a swelling of the irradiated portion of the glass, which occurs in a wide range of glass compositions. The extent of such swelling depends on the glass base composition.

Fiber-optic power limiter based on photothermal defocusing in an optical polymer.

We describe the performance of a fiber-optic power-limiting component. The passive device is dynamically responsive to the input signal and has been shown to attenuate continuous-wave power with a dynamic range of up to 9 dB at 150 mW of input power at 1550 nm. The limiting threshold is approximately 30 mW from 1530 to 1565 nm and less than 10 mW at 1430 nm.