PULLING SMALL TUBING AND OPTICAL FIBERS ON THE P2000F

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PULLING SMALL TUBING AND OPTICAL FIBERS ON THE P2000F
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PULLING SMALL TUBING AND OPTICAL FIBERS ON THE P2000F


Pulling Small Tubing And Optical Fibers On The P-2000/F


The Sutter Instrument P-2000 pipette puller was designed to allow the pulling of high melting point glasses such as fused silica. The standard P-2000/G is a very versatile instrument, capable of pulling a wide variety of tapers and tips sizes from all standard glass types in sizes from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm in diameter. The use of smaller diameter glass is only limited by the system used to clamp the glass.


The glass is clamped by screw pressure in a V-shaped groove cut in the glass carrier. If the glass diameter is too small, the glass will lay in the groove below the surface of the carrier bar, and the clamping pad will not be able to apply pressure against the glass. The simple solution for this problem is to use carrier bars with a smaller groove cut in them. Sutter Instruments has supplied pullers fitted with such carrier bars on request for many years. The development of the P-2000, with the ability to draw fused silica, has led to increased interest in drawing small diameter tubing and optical fibers. Because of this interest, Sutter Instruments now produces a version of the P-2000 that is adapted for small diameter glass. This version can be specified as the P2000.F. The version for larger diameter glass has been renamed the P2000/G.


The P2000/F can also be used with larger diameter tubes, and each P2000/F is first tested with 1 mm tubes extensively before final adjustments and testing with 125 micron fused silica optical fiber. The only real disadvantage of the P2000/F for larger diameter glass is that more care is required to properly clamp larger tubes in the small V-grooves of the P2000/F. The position of the center of the glass is a function of the glass diameter, so some adjustment of the optics may be desirable when changing the diameter of the glass to be pulled. In most cases adjustment of program values will be all that is required.


The P-2000/F has the same basic features as the standard P-2000/G. The power to melt the glass comes from a CO2 laser embedded in the unit. The laser output power is servo controlled. The output power level is programmed by the user. Each unit is set up to provide a maximum power of 10 Watts CW, which is enough to melt fused silica of up to 1.5 mm in diameter. The optical system of the P-2000 concentrates the laser output so that small diameter fused silica such as optical fibers may be drawn using less than 1/4 of the rated power.


The laser beam is directed at the glass by reflection off a scanning mirror. The user can select, by entering a program value, the scan pattern that is used. This allows the user to determine the distribution of heating along the length of the glass, which in turn controls the geometry of the taper.


In the P-2000 the laser system has been carefully integrated with the technology derived from our long experience with conventional pullers. It is obvious that a glass puller needs a means of heating the glass to a suitable working temperature and a means of applying force to draw the glass. In most cases, heat is applied while the glass is under a low tension or pull. When the glass begins to soften and yield, the heating is ended and a strong pulling force is applied, drawing the glass apart.


In the P-2000 the weak pull is provided by gravity. The softening of the glass is determined by measuring the velocity at which the glass is being drawn out by the weak pull. When the velocity reaches the level programmed by the user, the next stage of the pulling process begins. At this point the user has the option of turning off the laser and then, after a delay, turning on the hard pull or turning on the hard pull immediately and delaying the turn-off of the laser. This provides a very sensitive control over the heat content of the glass during the hard pull.


Using this version of the P-2000, a wide range of tip sizes and taper lengths may be produced. We have drawn fiber tips ranging from less than 10 nanometers in diameter up to more than 0.5 micrometer in diameter. Each unit is programmed and tested to produce tips of about 40 nanometers in diameter. These tips appear to be flat on the end.


TPULLING SMALL TUBING AND OPTICAL FIBERS ON THE P2000F
PULLING SMALL TUBING AND OPTICAL FIBERS ON THE P2000F
he following sample SEM photos show a 60nm fiber tip and a 40nm fiber tip (after subtracting for the 10nm gold coating put on for viewing the tips under the SEM) produced on a P-2000 set up to pull optical fibers.

PULLING SMALL TUBING AND OPTICAL FIBERS ON THE P2000F

One Digital Drive, Novato CA 94949

tel: (415) 883-0128 fax: (415) 883-0572 email: [email protected]





Tags: fibers on, optical fibers, p2000f, optical, pulling, fibers, small, tubing