Abstract
In this work, we report the fabrication of an all-polymer multimaterial optical fiber based on two different grades of cyclo-olefin polymers (known as Zeonex) and the high-performance thermoplastic polysulfone (PSU) with glass transition temperature (Tg) of 189°C. The core/cladding structure using the Zeonex polymers (E48R/480R, respectively) was developed using a co-extrusion method followed by a rod-in-tube approach to form the final preform. The fiber materials were characterized in terms of their Tg, viscosity as well as refractive index profiles. The final preform was thermally drawn down to a fiber with ∼300 µm and ∼70 µm total and core diameter, respectively. We thermally characterized and compared our step-index fiber with a commercially available polymer (Cytop) as well as a purely Zeonex single-mode step-index fiber. The proposed multimaterial fiber exhibited stable operation at temperatures as high as 180°C being ∼35°C higher than any polymer fiber reported so far to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, we believe that our results constitute a significant step forward for the polymer optical fiber community making the proposed polymer multimaterial fiber an efficient route towards truly heat-resistant applications.
Highlights
Polymer optical fibers (POFs) have attracted significant attention the past decade due to their various advantages compared to silica fibers [1]
In this work, we report the fabrication of an all-polymer multimaterial optical fiber based on two different grades of cyclo-olefin polymers and the highperformance thermoplastic polysulfone (PSU) with glass transition temperature (Tg) of 189°C
We have presented for the first time to the best of our knowledge the fabrication of an all-polymer multimaterial optical fiber based on two different grades of Zeonex (E48R and 480R) and PSU with a Tg=189°C
Summary
Polymer optical fibers (POFs) have attracted significant attention the past decade due to their various advantages compared to silica fibers [1]. We propose a novel approach for the development of a heat-resistant POF by combining the well-known optical Zeonex materials with a completely different family of polymers known as high-performance thermoplastics [24]. In this work, we employed the PSU polymer (Tg=189°C) to fabricate the final multimaterial fiber This polymer is typically produced from bisphenol A and 4,4-dichlorodiphenylsulfone by a nucleophilic process. The main advantage of extrusion compared to drilling or rod-in-tube is that complex preform structures can be obtained in a single automated step while the interface between the two billets can be optically smooth through a thermal-imprinting process we describe later in this article. Non-circular holes, large air-filling fractions and long preforms can be obtained, all of which are not readily achieved using drilling [31,32]
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