Fiber optic tap and method of fabrication

摘要

A low-loss fiber optic tap is fabricated by mounting a portion of an optical fiber with epoxy resin along the curved surface of a solid support form. After curing of the epoxy, a planar surface extending partially into and along the fiber is established by lapping and polishing the device to a carefully controlled depth. A prism having a preferred characteristic angle of 70 DEG is attached to the planar surface along the optical fiber and a photodiode is mounted adjacent thereto. The disclosure teaches how the parameters of the device may be tailored to the specific signal tap requirements of particular fiber optic transmission lines.