Fiber optic structure
AssigneeCyclone Biosciences, LLC
InventorStephen E. Griffin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A single strand of an optical fiber with a single optical core that is dimensioned at one end to resemble a blade or a head of a flat-head screwdriver. Such strand of the optical fiber is configured for optical coupling of light between such single strand and a spectrometric/spectrophotometric apparatus while employing an input slit and/or an output slit of the apparatus. A method for fabricating such single strand. A fiber optic cable containing, as an optical medium, only such single strand. A method for handling light with the use of such optical fiber and/or the optical cable.
Claims20
An optical fiber element having an axis, a proximal end, and a distal end and comprising:
- a single optical fiber core;
- and
- an optical fiber cladding,
- (i) wherein, at the distal end, the single optical fiber core is defined by a substantially cylindrically-shaped solid body of a core material;
- (ii) wherein, at the proximal end, the single optical fiber core has a proximal cross-section bound by a perimeter that includes two substantially parallel lines and two curved lines, each of the two curved lines connecting ends of a corresponding of the two substantially parallel lines with one another;
- (iii) wherein, at the proximal end, longitudinally-extending surfaces of the optical fiber core, which are represented in the proximal cross-section by said two substantially parallel lines, are coated with a layer of material configured to increase reflectance of light incident onto such layer from inside the optical fiber element, and/or wherein said longitudinally-extending surfaces are substantially planar;
- and
- (iv) wherein the proximal end of the optical fiber element is configured to form an up-taper that is spatially substantially monotonic.
An optical fiber element having an axis, a proximal end, and a distal end and comprising:
- a single optical fiber core;
- and
- an optical fiber cladding,
- (i) wherein, at the distal end, the single optical fiber core is defined by a substantially cylindrically-shaped solid body of a core material;
- (ii) wherein, at the proximal end, the single optical fiber core has a proximal cross-section bound by a perimeter that includes two substantially parallel lines and two curved lines, each of the two curved lines connecting ends of a corresponding of the two substantially parallel lines with one another;
- (iii) wherein, at the proximal end, longitudinally-extending surfaces of the optical fiber core, which are represented in the proximal cross-section by said two substantially parallel lines, are coated with a layer of material configured to increase reflectance of light incident onto such layer from inside the optical fiber element, and/or wherein said longitudinally-extending surfaces are substantially planar;
- and
- (iv) wherein the proximal end of is configured to form an up-taper such that a ratio of a first maximum dimension of the optical fiber core at the proximal cross-section to a second maximum dimension of the optical fiber core at a distal cross-section of the optical fiber element at the distal end is at least 4:1.
An optical fiber element having an axis, a proximal end, and a distal end and comprising:
- a single optical fiber core;
- and
- an optical fiber cladding,
- (i) wherein, at the distal end, the single optical fiber core is defined by a substantially cylindrically-shaped solid body of a core material;
- (ii) wherein, at the proximal end, the single optical fiber core has a proximal cross-section bound by a perimeter that includes two substantially parallel lines and two curved lines, each of the two curved lines connecting ends of a corresponding of the two substantially parallel lines with one another;
- (iii) wherein, at the proximal end, longitudinally-extending surfaces of the optical fiber core, which are represented in the proximal cross-section by said two substantially parallel lines, are coated with a layer of material configured to increase reflectance of light incident onto such layer from inside the optical fiber element, and/or wherein said longitudinally-extending surfaces are substantially planar;
- and
- (iv) wherein the proximal end of the optical fiber element is configured to form an up-taper such that a ratio of a first maximum dimension of the optical fiber core at the proximal cross-section to a second maximum dimension of the optical fiber core at a distal cross-section of the optical fiber element at the distal end is at least 3:1 and wherein a diameter of the optical core at the distal end is at least 100 microns.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.