The polymer converter for effectively connecting polymer with silica optical fibres

Abstract

We present a micrometer-size polymer converter (microbridge) for connecting polymer optical fibres with silica fibres. The procedure of preparing such microstructure is based on a process of photopolymerization. A polymer converter grows as an extension of the fibres' cores due to a self-guiding effect of the light beam in a photopolymerizable medium. Since the polymer microbridge has refractive index greater inside than outside, such a structure works as a waveguide leading the light beam between connected optical fibres. By selection of time of light exposition to the mixture and optical power of the incident light beam, it is possible to obtain a polymer converter with very good optical and mechanical characteristics. Possibility of using polymer microbridges grown directly from the fibres' core as coupling elements between silica and polymer fibres is a good alternative for obtaining permanent coupling of such fibres.