Side Polished Fiber: A Versatile Platform for Compact Fiber Devices and Sensors

Abstract Side polished fiber (SPF) has a controllable average roughness and length of the side-polishing region, which becomes versatile platform for integrating multiple materials to interact with evanescent field fabricate all-fiber devices sensors. It been widely used in couplers, filters, polarizers, optical attenuators, photodetectors, modulators, sensors temperature, humidity, strain, biological molecules, chemical gas, vector magnetic monitoring. In this article, an overview development history, fabrication techniques, types, transmission characteristics, varied recent applications SPFs are reviewed. Firstly, techniques reviewed, including V-groove assisted polishing technique wheel technique. Then, different types their characteristics discussed. Finally, various discussed concluded theoretically experimentally, principles structures. When designing device, residual thickness lengths SPF need be appropriately selected order obtain best performance. Developing is aimed at practical usability under harsh environments allows avoid high coupling loss between fibers on-chip integrated devices.