Through-Fiber Drawing of Microwires: An Online Photonic Bridge

Herein, we introduce a convenient and efficient drawing approach to fabricate and assemble functional polymeric fiber wires as a photonic bridge between waveguides for rapid and flexible splicing. We demonstrate that, by a simple one-step through-fiber drawing process, the photocurable polymeric wires with micron-diameter can be created. Experimental results reveal that the seamlessly integrated coupling construction between conventional single-mode fiber and microfiber can be realized by using the through-fiber drawing microwires, significantly, the through-fiber drawing microwires simultaneously function as waveguides and adhesives. Consequently, the easy construction and assembly of functional microfiber wires shown here has the potential to provide rapid, flexible, and long-lasting connection like coupling between photon-chip and conventional waveguide (such as fiber) in on-chip photonic devices, or with this approach, an optical circuit will be directly scribbled on the substrate.