Shaping Nanowire Tapers… With A CO 2 Laser Powered Micro-Furnace Aim: • To test a CO 2 Laser Powered Micro-Furnace in tapering fibres . • Method: • Stretching heated fibres so that they thin down. • Pass light in, detect light out, work out optical loss. • Fibre Optic Cable: Flexible, optically transparent wire through which light can be transmitted by total internal reflection.” • Taper: A section of optical fib .