Characterization of optical fibers using multiscale X-ray Computed Tomography

X-ray computed tomography (XCT) has emerged in recent years as a non-destructive technique for the 3D characterization of optical fibers, enabling the spatial mapping of refractive index variations and the evaluation of geometric parameters. This paper presents a multiscale characterization of standard optical fibers based on three XCT approaches with different resolutions. In particular, our results show the presence of a previously unreported parabolic profile in a single-mode optical fiber sample and demonstrate how the core/cladding ratio in a fiber taper is nearly constant along the fiber axis. Generally speaking, our results show how the various techniques are suitable for studying different optical fibers and identify the most appropriate technique for different applications, such as laboratory and industrial.