Integrating Diffractive Optical Elements in Fibre Endfaces

The integration of special functional elements, for example a beam splitter, directly into the end faces of quartz fibres was so far only possible on the laboratory scale. The reason for this is that for a precise treatment with laser light short wavelengths (e.g. 157 nm) are necessary, for which transparent substrates (e.g. CaF) as carriers of an exposure mask are needed, which are extremely expensive. In addition, the production of a mostly one-dimensional structured mask, which is not bound to a substrate was so far complex and expensive. We offer a new and economical procedure on the basis of a self-supporting, in two dimensions structured mask. This technology can particularly be used to produce diffractive phase elements as beam splitters, for beam shaping or for wavelength separation. Applications of such miniaturised operational elements are among others within the medical range (e.g. Endoscopy) as well as in the tele-communication (e.g. WDM or optical couplers).

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Dr. Jens-Peter Horst