Light-Induced Self-Writing Welding of Optical Fiber

We developed a process based on the self-focusing principle for the fabrication of a photopolymer junction between two optical fibers ends. Photopolymerization is initiated by a green laser light injected in both fibers, whereas a red inactinic beam monitors the coupling ratio between the fibers. This setup is well adapted to the real-time analysis of the junction formation and may be seen as a new tool of investigation of the formation of the self-writing photopolymer elements.