Figure 7

Dimpled fiber gluing. a) Labeled schematic of the fiber gluing process. Once the tapering/dimpling process is complete, two droplets of epoxy located on a fiber holder are approached to the newly created dimpled fiber using the manually adjustable stage behind the fiber mounts. This entire procedure is observed in real time to ensure proper gluing using the microscope imaging system mounted on the torch positioning gantry. Inset is a top-down view of this schematic, depicting the fiber, fiber holder and fiber clamps. b), c) Microscope images taken from the mounted imaging system showing the two ends of a fully glued dimpled fiber.