VIBRATION DYNAMICS OF TAPERED OPTICAL-FIBER PROBES

The motion of tapered fiber probes was studied both theoretically and experimentally. A continuum-mechanical model, including both the intri nsic and the external loss, is proposed to account for the vibration d ynamics of the probe. The intrinsic loss was found to be the dominant damping factor experimentally. Analytical solutions based on a realist ic probe geometry were obtained for the model in the presence of intri nsic loss. The results are compared with the measured overall motions of the tapered probe. The calculations agree well with the experimenta l results. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.