Formation of periodic polymer structures on the surface of optical fibers

Abstract

The self-organization of solutions of organic and inorganic polymers on the surface of round fibers during the evaporation of a solvent leads to the formation of longitudinal and transverse periodic structures. The structure period ranges from several tens to several hundreds of microns and depends on the type of polymer, the initial solution composition, and the fiber diameter. Nanoporous periodic structures made of inorganic materials can be formed from a suspension of inorganic nanoparticles in a polymer solution upon thermal decomposition of the polymer. These processes are shown to be used to create long-period fiber gratings for fiber sensor systems and fiber optical filters.