A method is disclosed of making a coated optical fiber. The method may involve drawing a preform through a furnace to create a fiber having a desired diameter and cross sectional shape. The fiber is then drawn through a slurry, wherein the slurry includes elements including at least one of metallic elements, alloy elements or dielectric elements, and the slurry wets an outer surface of the fiber. As the fiber is drawn through the slurry, it is then drawn through a forming die to impart a wet coating having a desired thickness on an outer surface of the fiber. The wet fiber is then drawn through an oven or ovens configured to heat the wet coating sufficiently to produce a consolidated surface coating on the fiber as the fiber exits the oven or ovens.

A method is disclosed of making a coated optical fiber. The method may involve drawing a preform through a furnace to create a fiber having a desired diameter and cross sectional shape. The fiber is then drawn through a slurry, wherein the slurry includes elements including at least one of metallic elements, alloy elements or dielectric elements, and the slurry wets an outer surface of the fiber. As the fiber is drawn through the slurry, it is then drawn through a forming die to impart a wet coating having a desired thickness on an outer surface of the fiber. The wet fiber is then drawn through an oven or ovens configured to heat the wet coating sufficiently to produce a consolidated surface coating on the fiber as the fiber exits the oven or ovens.

The present disclosure provides a method for knotting glass fibers and a spliced glass fiber bundle. The method for knotting glass fibers comprises the following steps of: equally dividing a glass fiber bundle A and a glass fiber bundle B that are to be connected by knotting into n strands, respectively, and marking the strands as A1-An and B1-Bn, respectively, wherein n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2; and, successively knotting and splicing the glass fiber strands A1-An and the glass fiber strands B1-Bn in one-to-one correspondence to form n spliced knots. The method for knotting glass fibers in the present disclosure is simple, easy to operate and applied to the knotting and splicing of various fiber bundles, and can effectively reduce the size of knots formed by knotting fiber bundles. Accordingly, the blockage, entanglement, stoppage and other phenomena during the production can be prevented, the smooth production is ensured, and it is advantageous for continuous production and quality of subsequent products.

A radiation pumped heater includes a ceramic substrate which is heated by a laser beam to a steady state temperature. An optical fiber is heated by conduction and radiation emitted from the ceramic substrate.

Fiber bending mechanisms vary beam characteristics by deflecting or bending one or more fibers, by urging portions of one or more fibers toward a fiber shaping surface having a selectable curvature, or by selecting a fiber length that is to be urged toward the fiber shaping surface. In some examples, a fiber is secured to a flexible plate to conform to a variable curvature of the flexible plate. In other examples, a variable length of a fiber is pulled or pushed toward a fiber shaping surface, and the length of the fiber or a curvature of the flexible plate provide modification of fiber beam characteristics.

Fiber bending mechanisms vary beam characteristics by deflecting or bending one or more fibers, by urging portions of one or more fibers toward a fiber shaping surface having a selectable curvature, or by selecting a fiber length that is to be urged toward the fiber shaping surface. In some examples, a fiber is secured to a flexible plate to conform to a variable curvature of the flexible plate. In other examples, a variable length of a fiber is pulled or pushed toward a fiber shaping surface, and the length of the fiber or a curvature of the flexible plate provide modification of fiber beam characteristics.

An optical fiber device may include a unitary core including a primary section and a secondary section, wherein at least a portion of the secondary section is offset from a center of the unitary core, wherein the unitary core twists about an optical axis of the optical fiber device along a length of the optical fiber device, and wherein a refractive index of the primary section is greater than a refractive index of the secondary section; and a cladding surrounding the unitary core.

An optical fiber device may include a unitary core including a primary section and a secondary section, wherein at least a portion of the secondary section is offset from a center of the unitary core, wherein the unitary core twists about an optical axis of the optical fiber device along a length of the optical fiber device, and wherein a refractive index of the primary section is greater than a refractive index of the secondary section; and a cladding surrounding the unitary core.

The methods disclosed herein include forming an expanded core in an optical fiber with a glass core having a core dopant and a core outer surface, and a glass cladding immediately surrounding the core and having a flat glass-portion surface closest to the core outer surface at a first core spacing S1. The methods include applying heat to a section of the optical fiber to cause the glass core to expand toward the flat glass-portion surface due to thermal diffusion of the core dopant. The methods also include terminating the application of heat to define the expanded core in the heated section of the optical fiber. The expanded core defines an evanescent coupling region having a second core spacing 0S2<S1 and an adiabatic transition region between the core and the evanescent coupling region of the expanded core.

The methods disclosed herein include forming an expanded core in an optical fiber with a glass core having a core dopant and a core outer surface, and a glass cladding immediately surrounding the core and having a flat glass-portion surface closest to the core outer surface at a first core spacing S1. The methods include applying heat to a section of the optical fiber to cause the glass core to expand toward the flat glass-portion surface due to thermal diffusion of the core dopant. The methods also include terminating the application of heat to define the expanded core in the heated section of the optical fiber. The expanded core defines an evanescent coupling region having a second core spacing 0S2<S1 and an adiabatic transition region between the core and the evanescent coupling region of the expanded core.