Fabrication of biconical tapered optical fibers using hydrofluoric acid

An easy to implement procedure for etching silica fibers in biconical form useful in sensing applications is described. A simple etching reactor was developed to obtain reproducible tapers of desired diameter and length. An approach for on-line monitoring of etching using a commonly used fluorometer is demonstrated. A mathematical model describing the light power transmission is proposed, and is validated using experimental data. The data and the model indicate that the diameter of the silica fiber decreases linearly with time with hydrofluoric acid (HF, 49.5% w/w) used as etchant at room temperature. The observed etching rate was 0.0023 +/- 0.00019 s(-1), which was repeatable using the procedure developed in this study. Method to arrest etching and subsequent preservation of the small diameter taper in mildly alkaline solution was found to be successful. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.