A micro identification system supports facile optical assemblies and components. A segment of optical fiber can comprise an identifier formed via actinic radiation. The identifier can generate a laser interference pattern that can be read through a cylindrical surface of the optical fiber to determine a code. Modified optical fibers are those fibers that have been shaped or coated to an extent beyond the demands of normal communications optical fibers. In one example, modified fibers are no longer than about two feet in length. For another example, the modified fibers can have either a non-cylindrical end face, a non flat end face, an end face the plane of which is not perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide, an end face coated with high density filter, or an identifier on or near an end face.