Method and apparatus for constructing microlens ends for optical fibers
US4678268A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 22, 1984 |
| Grant date | Jul 7, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 22, 2004 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S359/90
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The method for constructing microlens ends for optical fibres, particularly for biomedical and/or surgical use, is characterised by propagating in the optical fibre a radiation of the type used during the application of the fibre itself, and to which said fibre is transparent, and converting the wavelength of the radiation, outside to the fibre and in proximity to its output end, which has been previously cut along a plane orthogonal to its axis, into a band of wavelengths which can be absorbed by the fibre, for a time sufficient to cause localized fusion of the end. In order to implement this method, the invention also provides for the use of a device comprising a block of material which converts radiation and is provided with a flat surface, a support which keeps the fibre orthogonal to said flat surface and with its previously cut end facing said flat surface, and means for varying in a controlled manner, preferably by micrometric regulation, the distance between the fibre end and the said flat surface of the block of material.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.