Polymers beyond standard optical fibres – fabrication of microstructured polymer optical fibres |
| |
| Authors: | Eneko Arrospide Gaizka Durana Mikel Azkune Gotzon Aldabaldetreku Iñaki Bikandi Leire Ruiz‐Rubio Joseba Zubia |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Applied Mathematics, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain;2. Department of Communications Engineering, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain;3. Macromolecular Chemistry Group (LABQUIMAC), Department of Physical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain |
| |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the overall fabrication process of microstructured polymer optical fibres (mPOFs). mPOF fabrication involves a two‐step process: on the one hand, the design and creation of a preform containing a large‐scale version of the desired fibre and, on the other, the precise heating and drawing of the preform to the final fibre. The preforms are produced either by an improved drilling technique or by capillary stacking. For a correct and accurate drawing of the fibre, a controlled and precise heating unit has to be designed, an issue that will be explained in detail in this work. The quality and optical performance of the final mPOF depends strongly on key factors such as the preform annealing, the accuracy of the technique selected for the creation of the preform structure, the heating stage, as well as on the drawing parameters. All of them are analysed in detail and some drawn mPOFs of interest are reported as well. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry |
| |
| Keywords: | microstructured polymer optical fibre fabrication drilling heat transfer fibre drawing |
|
|
