Fiber End‐Capping and Splicing of High‐Power Fiber Arrays

Abstract

AbstractWell‐established splicer devices for fiber‐to‐fiber splices have been on the market for many years. The availability of CO2 laser‐based fiber splicing systems that can control the position and size of the heating zone has opened up new possibilities in the splicing of single and multiple fibers to optical elements of various sizes and shapes. The ability to control the splicing temperature in real time (ms range) enables precise and repeatable splicing results on a new level – especially for complex fiber structures such as large mode area (LMA) and hollow core fibers. Temperature‐controlled splicing also opens up the possibility of splicing different glass types (e.g. soft glass fibers).