Heater self-calibration technique for shape prediction of fiber tapers

Abstract

In the production of tapered optical fibers, it is important to control the fiber shape according to application-dependent requirements and to ensure adiabatic tapers. Especially in the transition regions, the fiber shape depends on the heater properties. The axial viscosity profile of the fiber within the heater can, however, be hard to access and is therefore often approximated by assuming a uniform temperature distribution. We present a method for easy experimental calibration of the viscosity profile within the heater. This allows the determination of the resultant fiber shape for arbitrary pulling procedures, using only an additional camera and the fiber drawing setup itself. We find very good agreement between the modeled and measured fiber shape.