CO2 laser-inscribed cladding light stripper with homogeneous stripping and attenuation > 37 dB

Here, we present advancements in laser-inscribed cladding light strippers. Due to its lower process times of only minutes and absence of toxic chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid, laser-based microstructuring presents a promising alternative to chemical etching for manufacturing cladding light strippers. We achieved a cladding light attenuation of 37.3 dB, while showing remarkable stripping homogeneity, by dividing the cladding light stripper into independent segments and bending the fiber. Additionally, we observed negligible signal loss of less than 0.05 dB. These results are comparable to state-of-the-art chemically etched cladding light strippers and demonstrate the potential of laser-based microstructuring as a non-toxic alternative.