Method for coupling an air-clad optical fibre to another optical fibre device, and optical pumping system

摘要

In a technique for modifying a selected portion of an optical fiber microstructure in an air-clad optical fiber or other microstructured fiber, an etchant gas is caused to stream the microstructure in a selected portion of the fiber. Heat is then applied to the selected fiber portion, causing at least some of the microstructure to be etched away. In a further technique, an optical device is coupled to a modified air-clad optical fiber. An air-clad optical fiber is provided having a core, an inner cladding region surrounding the core, an air-clad region surrounding the inner cladding region, and an outer region surrounding the air-clad region A lead end of the air-clad optical fiber is prepared for splicing by removing the air-clad region and all fiber regions outside of the air-clad region, so as to expose an inner fiber region. The prepared lead end of the air-clad optical fiber is then spliced to a lead end of the optical device.