Fabrication of Yb-doped silica micro-structured optical fibers from UV-curable nano-composites and their application in temperature sensing

Abstract

A novel scheme for fabricating Yb-doped silica micro structured optical fibers and their application in high-temperature optical fiber sensing are reported. The Yb-doped silica micro structured optical fiber preforms consisted of Yb-doped silica core rods (0.1 wt% for Yb2O3) and holey pure silica claddings fabricated by UV-curable tube molding technology and digital light processing 3D printing technology, respectively. The silica preforms were drawn using the rod-in-tube method to Yb-doped silica micro structured optical fibers without severe distortion. The doped micro structured fibers were applied to high-temperature sensing from 296.15 to 653.15 K. The proposed technology is expected to be effective for the fabrication of various types of rare-earth-ion-doped silica micro structured optical fibers that can be used in fiber sensors, lasers, and amplifiers.