We demonstrate a method for rapid prototyping of optical fibers. Silica-based glass rods were 3D printed using laser powder deposition. Different doping of the 3D printed rods is evaluated, including alumina, titania, and erbium-doped glass. The rods were subsequently used as the core material in preforms with optical fibers drawn using a laser-based draw tower. A transmission loss of 3.2 dB/m was found for a fiber with 1 wt% titania doped core and pure silica cladding. Using this fabrication method, prototyping from powder to optical fiber could be achieved within a few hours.

Fused silica glass is a commonly used high-performance material. However, due to the high temperature necessary for its production, manufacturing can also be challenging and costly. An attractive approach is additive manufacturing through laser cladding. Laser cladding of transparent fused silica was achieved using a CO2-laser to locally melt the substrate while injecting a stream of fumed silica glass powder into the melt-pool. By the described technique, it is possible to manufacture fully sintered silica glass with deposition rate up to 29 mm3/min. In this work we have studied deposition dynamics and influence of different process parameters on the final deposition quality.

Additive manufacturing of high-quality macroscopic fused silica glass structures, with deposition rates of up to 1.2 mm3/s, is presented. Three co-axial nozzles were used to avoid the so-called quill effect. Homogeneous, crack-free, multilayer, as well as free-standing objects were printed using cluster-free sub-µm powders delivered to a CO2 laser-induced melt pool. Structures with an overhang of up to 45° were possible to print. Laser post-processing was used to improve the surface roughness and transparency. This system can be suitable for fabrication of advanced optical elements and devices, such as waveguides or fiber preforms.

An experimental, laboratory-scale optical fiber drawing tower based on CO laser heating has been developed and used to fabricate speciality optical fiber. The CO laser was utilized in a symmetric four beam heating system. The localized and responsive heating time of the laser-based furnace was beneficial for manufacturing crystalline core fibers, specifically, silicon core optical fibers. Moreover, the specific absorption properties of the CO laser radiation in silica have been evaluated with the aid of finite element modeling. In comparison to the more traditional C O 2 laser, CO lasers were found to improve temperature uniformity and heating times while minimizing surface evaporation.

In this work, we demonstrate a spot-welding method for fabrication of all-silica fiber components. A CO2 laser was used to locally sinter sub-micron silica powders, enabling rigid bonding of optical fiber to glass substrates. The bonding was achieved without inducing any fiber transmission losses. The components showed no sign of deterioration or structural change when heated up to 1100 °C. These single material assemblies are therefore well suited for use in harsh environments where high stability and robustness is required.