Etching technique study for POF coupler fabrication using circular blocks

A method for developing polymer optical fiber (POF) directional coupler is introduced where the initial procedure is explained. The procedure of fabrication includes using chemical solvent to remove the cladding and exposed the core in order to align the unclad center of the fiber with another similar fiber to develop the coupler. Several experiments using different radii of circular blocks attached with the etched fibers are demonstrated to investigate the output power and losses of the developed coupler in order to build an efficient yet low-cost device. Instead of relying only on silica or glass fiber, POF now can be used as an alternative to improve the network performance in short distance communication system. The measurement parameters laid out offer great outcomes, however, the couplers intended to develop is yet to be realized where deeper research and various experiments are needed in order to develop a simple but optimum performance coupler that can be used for various applications.