Features of Manufacturing Fiber Optic Tapers for Matching the Mode Fields of Different Optical Fibers

The transmission losses in the region of 1.5–1.6 $$\mu$$ m for tapers are studied depending on their length, melting rate, and constriction size using the example of Corning SMF-28 optical fiber. The tapers are manufactured using Fujikura FSM-100P, 100P+, and LZM-100 fusion splicers as well as Lightel CW-200B workstation. The configuration of tapers with minimum losses, which amounted to –0.5 dB, is determined experimentally. A mode adapter for matching modes of standard polarization-maintaining optical fiber (Fujikura SM15-PS-U25D) and polarization-maintaining highly nonlinear fiber with reduced core (HNLF PM) is manufactured using Lightel CW-200B workstation. The connection losses of these optical fibers are reduced from –3 to –1.25 dB due to better matching of mode fields.