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In This Article

  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Protocol
  • Representative Results
  • Discussion
  • Disclosures
  • Acknowledgements
  • Materials
  • References
  • Reprints and Permissions

Summary

This protocol describes the design and manufacture of a water bridge and its activation as a water fiber. The experiment demonstrates that capillary resonances of the water fiber modulate its optical transmission.

Abstract

In this report, an optical fiber of which the core is made solely of water, while the cladding is air, is designed and manufactured. In contrast with solid-cladding devices, capillary oscillations are not restricted, allowing the fiber walls to move and vibrate. The fiber is constructed by a high direct current (DC) voltage of several thousand volts (kV) between two water reservoirs that creates a floating water thread, known as a water bridge. Through the choice of micropipettes, it is possible to control the maximal diameter and length of the fiber. Optical fiber couplers, at both sides of the bridge, activate it as an optical waveguide, allowing researchers to monitor the water fiber capillary body waves through transmission modulation and, therefore, deducing changes in surface tension.

Co-confining two important wave types, capillary and electromagnetic, opens a new path of research in the interactions between light and liquid-wall devices. Water-walled microdevices are a million times softer than their solid counterparts, accordingly improving the response to minute forces.

Introduction

Since the breakthrough of optical fibers in communication, awarded with a Nobel prize in 20091, a series of fiber-based applications grew alongside. Nowadays, fibers are a necessity in laser surgeries2, as well as in coherent X-ray generation3,4, guided-sound5 and supercontinuum6. Naturally, the research on fiber optics expanded from utilizing solids into exploiting liquids for optical wave guiding, where liquid-filled microchannels and laminar flow combine the transportation properties of a liquid with the advantag....

Protocol

CAUTION: This experiment involves high voltage. It is the reader's responsibility to verify with the safety authorities that their experiment follows regulations before turning on the high voltage.

NOTE: Any kind of polar liquid can be utilized to produce liquid fibers, such as ethanol, methanol, acetone, or water. The polarity of the liquid dictates the stability and diameter of the created fiber23,24. For best results, use deioni.......

Representative Results

The coupling efficiency from a water fiber to a highly multimode fiber can be as high as 54%25,26. The coupling efficiency to a single-mode fiber is up to 12%25,26. Water fibers can be as thin as 1.6 µm in diameter and can have a length of 46 µm (Figure 3)25,26, or they can b.......

Discussion

To conclude, the major advantage and uniqueness of this technique is creating a fiber which hosts three different kinds of waves: capillary, acoustic, and optical. All three waves oscillate in different regimes, opening the possibility for multi-wave detectors. As an example, airborne nanoparticles affect the surface tension of liquids. Already at the current stage, it is possible to monitor changes in the surface tension through variations in the capillary eigenfrequency. Additionally, water-walled devices are a million.......

Disclosures

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology & Space; ICore: the Israeli Excellence center 'Circle of Light' grant no. 1802/12, and by the Israeli Science Foundation grant no. 2013/15. The authors thank Karen Adie Tankus (KAT) for the helpful editing.

....

Materials

NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
Deioniyzed Water 18MOhm resistance
Micropipettes, Borosilicate Glass, round, inner diameter 850 micronProdustrial.com#133260
Micropipettes, Borosilicate Glass, round, inner diameter 150 micronProdustrial.com#133258
High voltage, low current source, 3kV with 5 mA.BertanModel 215
High voltage, low current source,  8 kV with 0.25 mA.Home build
Optical fiberCorningHI 780 C5 meter
Optical fiberThorlabsFTO 305 meter
Optical fiberThorlabsFTO 305 meter
 Fiber coupled laserFISSMF 28E
PhotoreceiverNew Port/ New Focus1801-FSwith fiber connection
OscilloscopeAgilent TechnologiesDSO-X 3034A
2 Degree of freedom tilt stagestageNew Port/ New FocusM-562F-TILT
3Degree of freedom linear micro translation stage  New Port/ New FocusM-562F-XYZ
A set of magnets
Objective 5XMitutoyo MY5X-802
Objective 20 xMitutoyo MY20X-804
ZoomNavitar12x Zoom
Microscope tubeNavitar1-6015 standard tube
IsopropanolSigma Aldrich67-63-0Spec Grad
2 x Bare Fiber holderThorlabsT711-250
2 x Translational StageThorlabsDT12
Block of PMMA for fabricating the water reservoir and pipette holder150 x 60 x 10 mm
PTFE-TapeGufero240453
Fiber coupled, cw Laser Light SourceNew Port/ New FocusTLB-6712765-781 nm

References

  1. For Groundbreaking Achievements Concerning the Transmission of Light in Fibers for Optical Communication. The Nobel Prize in Physics Available from: https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/press.html (2009)
  2. Temelkuran, B., Hart, S. D., Benoit, G., Joannopoulos, J. D., Fink, Y. Wavelength-scalable hollow optical fib....

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