Fabrication of Optical Fiber Probe Nano-tips by Heated Micro-pulling Combined with Static Chemical Etching

A method to fabricate optical fiber probe nanotips by combination of heated micropulling and static chemical etching has been developed. Firstly, electric arc heating and micropulling process is used to change the configuration of fiber cladding, thus to obtain semi-finished fiber probes with desirable shape. Then the dimension of probe tip is further reduced by hydrofluoric (HF) acid static chemical etching. Probe tips with dimension less than 100 nm and cone angle 43deg have been achieved by this method. Compared with traditional static chemical etching, fiber probes fabricated by this method have a larger cone angle and shorter taper length. The transmission efficiency of fiber probe is improved either. Using arc heating instead of traditional laser heating, the equipment requirement for probe fabrication has been greatly simplified. Micropulling process decreases the etching volume of the fiber cladding, which greatly reduces the etching time. The advancement of fabrication technique of optical fiber probe may further support the development of near-field imaging, biochemical sensing and nanofabrication fields