Method of making fiber probe devices using patterned reactive ion etching

Claim 1

A method of making a fiber probe device comprising the steps of: (a) providing a fiber segment having an inner cylindrical core region and an outer cladding region, the inner region having a waveguiding property that confines optical radiation recited in step (e) sufficiently to define a patterned photoresist layer recited in step (f); (b) etching a lower portion of the fiber segment for a first predetermined amount of time, whereby a thinner lower cylindrical region of the fiber segment remains; (c) cleaving the thinner lower cylindrical region of the fiber segment, whereby a cleaved thinner lower cylindrical region of the fiber, having a cleaved endface, is formed; (d) coating at least the entire surface of the cleaved endface with a protective photoresist layer; (e) coupling optical radiation into the core region of the fiber segment, whereby the optical radiation propagates through the core region and is incident on the portion of the protective photoresist layer that coats the core region of the fiber located at the cleaved endface; (f) developing the protective photoresist layer, whereby the photoresist layer becomes a patterned photoresist masking layer that coats the core region located at the cleaved endface; (g) anisotropically dry etching the cleaved endface for a second predetermined amount of time, whereby a predetermined height of material of the cladding region contiguous with the cleaved endface is removed while a height of at least a portion of the core region located at the cleaved endface is not changed; and (h) essentially isotropically etching at least the cleaved thinner lower core region of the fiber segment for a third predetermined amount of time, whereby a tip region having a predetermined maximum width is formed located at the cleaved thinner lower cylindrical region.

Claim 2

A method of making a fiber probe device comprising the steps of: (a) providing a fiber segment having an inner cylindrical core region and an outer cladding region, the inner region having a waveguiding property that confines optical radiation recited in step (e) sufficiently to define a patterned photoresist layer recited in step (f); (b) etching a lower portion of the fiber segment for a first predetermined amount of time, whereby a thinner lower cylindrical region of the fiber segment remains; (c) cleaving the thinner lower cylindrical region of the fiber segment, whereby a cleaved thinner lower cylindrical region of the fiber, having a cleaved endface, is formed; (d) coating at least the entire surface of the cleaved endface with a protective photoresist layer; (e) coupling optical radiation into the core region of the fiber segment, whereby the optical radiation propagates through the core region and is incident on the portion of the protective photoresist layer that coats the core region of the fiber located at the cleaved endface; (f) developing the protective photoresist layer, whereby the photoresist layer becomes a patterned photoresist masking layer that coats the core region located at the cleaved endface; (g) anisotropically dry etching the cleaved endface for a second predetermined amount of time, whereby a predetermined height of material of the cladding region contiguous with the cleaved endface is removed while a height of at least a portion of the core region located at the cleaved endface is not changed; and (h) essentially isotropically etching at least the cleaved thinner lower core region of the fiber segment for a third predetermined amount of time, whereby a tip region having a predetermined maximum width is formed located at the cleaved thinner lower cylindrical region.