Submicron diameter single crystal sapphire optical fiber

In this work, a submicron-diameter single crystal sapphire optical fiber was demonstrated via wet acid etching at elevated temperatures. Etch rates on the order 2.3 µm/hr were achievable with a 3:1 molar ratio sulfuric-phosphoric acid solution maintained at a temperature of 343°C. A sapphire fiber with an approximate diameter of 800 nm was successfully fabricated from a commercially available fiber with an original diameter of 50 µm. The simple and controllable etching technique provides a feasible approach to the fabrication of unique waveguide structures via traditional silica masking techniques. The ability to tailor the geometry of sapphire optical fibers is the first step in achieving optical and sensing performance on par with its fused silica counterpart.