End preparation and fusion splicing of an optical fiber array with a CO(2) laser

Mirror-finished end preparation and low-loss splicing of silica fiber arrays by means of a CO(2) laser are demonstrated. Eight-fiber linear arrays of multimode fibers with 60-microm core diam and 150-microm outer diam were laser scribed and fractured, then butted and spliced with 3.0-W laser power output, 1.0-mm beam-spot diam, and 15-microm/sec fiber array driving speed. Average splice losses for 20x splicings (160 splices) in step- and graded-index fibers were 0.12 db and 0.10 dB, respectively. The air bubbles sometimes observed at the splicing point in fusion splices were avoided by preparing fiber ends with a laser-scribing method.