"Dumb Question" - fiber optics

[tsteele93]

Is it possible to take laser output from a pointer and feed it into a fiber optic "tube" and have it come out collimated at the other end? Or at least ready to be collimated at the other end with a lens?

 

[Meatball]

From a pointer? Sure.

You could need to secure the pointer, stabilize the mount, the lens, and then focus it in the fiber's inner bore. But the divergence that enters the fiber will also exit out the other end- needing another collimating lens.

But, this all depends on the wavelength, fiber diameter, and use of the output from the fiber.

All I'm trying to say is that yes. It can be done. But from pointer? There seems to be little point..

 

[joeyss]

It's really easy...laser light acts like a magic light thing in anything clear that's glass or crystal. You can see it trace around the rims,go through small glass tubes, and make epic glowing crystals when on them. Thank the single wavelength and small dot size for this.

 

[LaserCo]

Does anyone know a simple or very low cost way of cleaving the ends on a fiber to make it useable for this?
Right now I have about 50 feet of this stuff and a few months back had a chance to
score on a large wooden spool of the stuff for free on craigslist

After a ZZ Top concert I hung around and talked with the laser guys for a bit and they
told me they use a fiber feed from large frame ion lasers for all their gear.

 

[bloompyle]

Is this how pigtailed laser diodes work?

ThorLabs

 

[DJZ]

I've been messing around with fiber lately. Pretty neat stuff indeed. I have 2 kinds of cable, 100 micron and 50 micron. I've used the same output coupler on both and of course the 50 micron is fantastic. The output beam is clean and the divergence is reasonable. Here is a pic of 2 launchers, you gotta get the focal point right into the end of the fiber and both mounts allow for all kinds of adjustments to make that happen. It is necessary to have a good set of safety glasses for this. The output coupler appears to be a single lens, not sure though, set the focus and your good to go. The final pic was made by using the output of a white light beam thru a pcaom, then launched into the fiber. Output coupler is attached to a scan head with old school G-120 scanners. Mysterious black box added so no one has to see my ugly mug!

 

[tsteele93]

That last pic is pretty amazing. Can you go into more detail on how to do that?

 

[LaserCo]

DJZ, Thanks a lot for the pics of the launcher and stuff!
I wish I still had my 4000 grit sandpaper...
Since I posted about a cheap way to cleave
these ends on the fiber I have seen on ebay
some devices to perform this task with and
they are very expensive.

 

[DJZ]

That last pic is pretty amazing. Can you go into more detail on how to do that?

Sure, Basically, I have a DAC sending the pattern to a scanner amp and a pcaom driver for the color. The scanners in the box I'm holding are G-120 (not Chinese). The amp is at the other end of a 10 foot cable, most scanners these days have 1 foot cables. I'm fiber launching the output of the pcaom so the modulated color comes out of the fiber at the scanners. If I get some time I'll throw together a video.