Checking diameter uniformity in a prepared graded index polymer optical fiber using a whispering gallery mode technique

Abstract

This paper experimentally demonstrates a method for measurement of fiber diameter variations with submicron resolution. The fiber sample under test was a short section of graded index polymer optical fiber (GIPOF) with a diameter of 430 μm prepared by an interfacial gel polymerization technique and heat drawn from graded index preforms of known refractive index profiles at 180oC. Measurement results have been verified by SEM microscopic studies. The proposed method can be applied in both manufacturing and quality control of GIPOF