Method of fabricating an optical fibre preform

Abstract

A method of fabricating an optical fibre preform is disclosed comprising using a subtractive process on an optical monolith to define therein at least a transverse section of the optical fibre preform, wherein the transverse section comprises at least two regions with different refractive indexes. An optical fibre preform fabricated in accordance with the method is also disclosed along with a method of assembling optical components using a subtractive process to define a first interconnecting feature in or for use with a first optical component; using a subtractive process to define a second interconnecting feature in or for use with a second optical component; and coupling the first and second components together using the first and second interconnecting features such that the coupling dictates a passive alignment of the first and second components.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.