Description
We present a CO2-laser based machining process for the manufacturing of all-fiber components. A CO2-laser beam is used to perform multiple steps of the manufacturing chain. The first step is the removal of the fiber’s polymer coating, followed by the removal of large parts of the glass cladding to access buried waveguides of the fiber. Excellent surface quality (Ra <10 nm) and process control for precision cladding removal are demonstrated, thus enabling the manufacturing of fiber components. A low loss evanescent field coupler (0.13 dB) was manufactured and coupling between two cores was achieved by fusing two altered fibers together.