A Novel Opto-Mechanical System Coupled to a Spectrophotometer for Measuring Coatings on Small Size Substrates and Optical Fiber Filters

A novel opto-mechanical system coupled to a commercial spectrophotometer using optical fibers was developed to measure optical transmittance of small samples, like filters deposited on optical fiber tips or micrometric substrates, as well as to investigate transmission uniformity of filters by surface scanning. It consists of two identical modules, reference and sample, both inserted in the chamber of the spectrophotometer. Each module was formed by an optical fiber, 200 mu m core diameter and numerical aperture of 0.22, supported by adjustable positioning mounts for easing alignment. The system was validated by measuring the transmittance spectrum of a coated glass substrate with and without the opto-mechanical system, showing no significant differences between both methods. To determine the system versatility were undergone two transmittance experiments: one for a filter deposited on the tip of an optical fiber and the other by scanning the surface of a coated glass substrate. It can be concluded that the opto-mechanical system allows to measurement the transmittance of small size filters and optical fibers filters, as well as to scan over large coated surfaces to investigate coating uniformity.