Thiago Marques

Mid-IR Hollow-core microstructured fiber drawn from a 3D printed PETG preform

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) optical fibers have long attracted great interest due to their wide range of applications in security, biology and chemical sensing. Traditionally, research was directed towards materials with low absorption in the mid-IR region, such as chalcogenides, which are difficult to manipulate and often contain highly toxic elements. In this paper, we demonstrate a Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) hollow-core fiber (HCF) with guiding properties in the mid-IR. Guiding is provided by the fiber geometry, as PETG exhibits a material attenuation 2 orders of magnitude larger than the HCF propagation loss. The structured plastic fiber preforms were fabricated using commercial 3D printing technology and then drawn using a conventional fiber drawing tower. The final PETG fiber outer diameter was 466 µm with a hollow-core diameter of 225 µm. Thermal imaging at the fiber facet performed within the wavelength range 3.5–5 µm clearly indicates air guidance in the fiber hollow-core.

Post-processing Microstructured Polymer Optical Fiber

Optical fibers, usually made by glass materias, use light pulses for data transmission. Polymer fibers, however, present high loss and are intended to short distance communication or optical devices. Microstructured polymer optical fibers present an air hole pattern that has fundamental role on the fiber optical (and mechanical) properties. Playing with the holes size, shape and position can impact directly its characteristics. Here we applied a few bars pressure inside the holes while some fiber section was heated around 100 °C for several minutes. We showed the possibility to change locally the fiber microstructure.

Fabrication of Microestrutured Polymer Optical Fibers

In this work we present an overview about microestructured polymer optical fibers (mPOFs) fabrication. This is a relatively new branch of research, which have attracted attention due to its advantages when compered to traditional glasses fibers, such as high functionalization possibilities and freedom of design. There are few groups around the world that are capable to produce mPOFs, including our group.