The present application is applicable to the fiber optics field and provides a hybrid fiber coupler including a lead-in single mode fiber, a coreless fiber, a hollow glass tube and a lead-out single mode fiber fusion-spliced sequentially. Both the lead-in single mode fiber and the lead-out single mode fiber include cores and claddings. Cores of the lead-in single mode fiber and the lead-out single mode fiber are not in the same horizontal direction. A curved waveguide is inscribed inside the coreless fiber and the hollow glass tube and cores of the lead-in single mode fiber and the lead-out single mode fiber are connected with said curved waveguide. The hollow glass tube has a micro-channel at either end thereof, and the two micro-channels form a microfluidic channel with the center of the hollow glass tube for allowing the analytical liquid to access the hollow glass tube. The hybrid waveguide coupler according to embodiments of the present application features cheap manufacturing materials, simple structure and ease of fabrication.

A multi-analyte sensor system based on hollow core photonic bandgap fiber and Raman anti-Stokes spectroscopy. The system includes: i) an inlet to introduce an analyte sample into an analyzer chamber which analyzer includes; ii) a measurement system to derive the anti-Stokes spectral peaks and/or spectra of the sample; iii) a set of reference calibrants corresponding to the analytes of which the sample is primarily comprised; iv) a second inlet to introduce said calibrants into the analyzer chamber; v) a second measurement system to derive the anti-Stokes spectral peaks and/or spectra of the calibrants vi) an outlet through which the sample and calibrants are expelled from the analyzer chamber.

Described are optical fibers and scanning fiber displays comprising optical fibers. The disclosed optical fibers include a plurality of mass adjustment regions, such as gas-filled regions, positioned between a central waveguiding element and an outer periphery for reducing a mass of the optical fiber as compared to an optical fiber lacking the plurality of mass adjustment regions.

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) based photonics promises researchers and systems designers with a new degree of freedom whilst offering annular intensity distributions rather than Gaussian intensity distributions. However, absence of an optical fiber design that not only supports propagation of OAM signals and cylindrical vector modes but does so with a large design space for designers to adjust and tune the modal properties of the optical fiber supporting these OAM signals has hampered developments. Embodiments of the invention exploit photonic crystal fiber designs to support this design/manufacturing tunability whilst also supporting endlessly single-radial order modal regimes where the optical fiber is mono-annular over a wide range of optical wavelengths. Such optical fibers being able to support the transmission of a larger diversity of mono-annular modes (OAM or vector modes in nature, or otherwise) in a reliable manner and over a wider range of wavelengths than conventional silica optical fibers.

Described are optical fibers and scanning fiber displays comprising optical fibers. The disclosed optical fibers include a plurality of mass adjustment regions, such as gas-filled regions, positioned between a central waveguiding element and an outer periphery for reducing a mass of the optical fiber as compared to an optical fiber lacking the plurality of mass adjustment regions.

A method of drawing a material into sheet form includes forming a preform comprising at least one material as a large aspect ratio block wherein a first transverse dimension of the preform is much greater than a second transverse dimension substantially perpendicular to the first transverse dimension. A furnace having substantially linearly opposed heating elements one spaced from the other is provided and the heating elements are energized to apply heat to the preform to create a negative thermal gradient from an exterior surface along the first transverse dimension of the preform inward toward a central plane of the preform. The preform is drawn in such a manner that the material substantially maintains its first transverse dimension and deforms across its second transverse dimension.

A tapered waveguide is optically connected to an end surface of an optical fiber bundle part, and has a tapered part that changes in outside diameter in a tapered shape. The fiber bundle part is optically connected to the end surface of the large-diameter side of the waveguide. The entire waveguide has a substantially uniform index of refraction. A delivery fiber is optically connected to the end surface on the small-diameter side of the waveguide. As with the fiber bundle part the delivery fiber passes through a hole in a capillary and is affixed. The capillaries are each affixed to a retaining member such that the fiber bundle part, the waveguide, and the delivery fiber are disposed on the same axis and optically connected. The waveguide is retained in a state floating from the retaining member, and the outside surface of the waveguide is not in contact with the retaining member.

A method of drawing a material into sheet form includes forming a preform comprising at least one material as a large aspect ratio block wherein a first transverse dimension of the preform is much greater than a second transverse dimension substantially perpendicular to the first transverse dimension. A furnace having substantially linearly opposed heating elements one spaced from the other is provided and the heating elements are energized to apply heat to the preform to create a negative thermal gradient from an exterior surface along the first transverse dimension of the preform inward toward a central plane of the preform. The preform is drawn in such a manner that the material substantially maintains its first transverse dimension and deforms across its second transverse dimension.

A multi-analyte sensor system based on hollow core photonic bandgap fiber and Raman anti-Stokes spectroscopy. The system includes: i) an inlet to introduce an analyte sample into an analyzer chamber which analyzer includes; ii) a measurement system to derive the anti-Stokes spectral peaks and/or spectra of the sample; iii) a set of reference calibrants corresponding to the analytes of which the sample is primarily comprised; iv) a second inlet to introduce said calibrants into the analyzer chamber; v) a second measurement system to derive the anti-Stokes spectral peaks and/or spectra of the calibrants vi) an outlet through which the sample and calibrants are expelled from the analyzer chamber.

A method of drawing different materials includes forming a first material into a preform body defining at least one channel extending therethrough having a first cross-sectional area. A first element formed of a second material is inserted into the channel and with the preform body creates a preform assembly. The first element has a cross-sectional area that is less than the cross-sectional area of the channel, and the second material has a higher melting temperature than the first material. The preform assembly is heated so that the first material softens and the preform assembly is drawn so that the preform body deforms at a first deformation rate to a smaller cross-sectional area and the first element substantially maintains a constant cross-sectional area throughout the drawing process. Upon completion of the drawing step, the cross-sectional area of the channel is equivalent to the cross-sectional area of the first element.