Low-loss highly overcoupled fused couplers: fabrication and sensitivity to external pressure

Abstract

A flame brush technique for fabrication of optical directional couplers that maintain low loss over many coupling cycles is discussed. Couplers with excess losses less than 3% and with 2500 power transfer cycles in the coupling are reported. Such couplers, which have a narrow wavelength band transmission (0.12 nm), can be tuned by applying an external hydrostatic pressure. The long fused couplers can also have application as optical fiber sensors.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>