Theory, experiment, and application of optical fiber etching

Based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG), an online monitoring system for the etching process of optical fiber in a hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution has been designed. The variation curves of the wavelength shifts of FBGs with etching time at three different temperatures have been obtained and analyzed theoretically. The results show that the etching process of optical fiber in HF acid solution can be understood by the variation of the wavelength shift of FBG with etching time. Finally, required tapered fiber tips can be made by controlling the etching velocity and the pulling velocity of optical fiber from the etching solution.