Towards complete characterization of hollow core fiber geometry

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science
• Fiber Optics

Background:

• Fabricating antiresonant hollow core fibers is challenging due to microstructural uniformity requirements.
• Existing non-destructive techniques lack the precision to profile complex hollow core fiber geometries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a precise non-destructive method for measuring hollow core fiber microstructures.
• To overcome the limitations of individual measurement techniques for hollow core fiber geometry profiling.

Main Methods:

• Combined two previously reported non-destructive measurement techniques.
• Applied the combined method to measure geometrical parameters of a double-negative anti-resonant hollow core fiber (DNANF).

Main Results:

• Achieved accurate non-destructive measurements of crucial geometrical parameters, including capillary diameter and fusing point distances.
• Significantly improved middle and outer capillary diameter measurements, reducing discrepancies from ~6% to ≤0.6%.

Conclusions:

• The combined method provides accurate, non-destructive profiling of hollow core fiber microstructures.
• This advancement aids in improving the fabrication consistency and quality control of hollow core fibers.