Selective-Fluid-Filling Technique of Microstructured Optical Fibers

A versatile technique is demonstrated to fill selectively a fluid into desired air holes in a microstructured optical fibers (MOFs). A fan-shaped groove is carved on the fiber surface to expose selected air holes to atmosphere by a micromachining system consisting of a femtosecond IR laser and a microscope. Then a fluid is filled into the exposed air holes through the carved groove with the well-known capillarity action. Such a technique can be used to fill selectively several different types of fluid samples into desired air holes in an MOF by means of carving fan-shaped grooves on different orientations of the fiber surface.