Optical and electrical characterizations of multifunctional silver phosphate glass and polymer-based optical fibers

Maxime Rioux,Steeve Morency,Elton Soares De Lima Filho,Younès Messaddeq,Yannick Ledemi

doi:10.1038/srep43917

Abstract

In recent years, the fabrication of multifunctional fibers has expanded for multiple applications that require the transmission of both light and electricity. Fibers featuring these two properties are usually composed either of a single material that supports the different characteristics or of a combination of different materials. In this work, we fabricated (i) novel single-core step-index optical fibers made of electrically conductive AgI-AgPO3-WO3 glass and (ii) novel multimaterial fibers with different designs made of AgI-AgPO3-WO3 glass and optically transparent polycarbonate and poly (methyl methacrylate) polymers. The multifunctional fibers produced show light transmission over a wide range of wavelengths from 500 to 1000 nm for the single-core fibers and from 400 to 1000 nm for the multimaterial fibers. Furthermore, these fibers showed excellent electrical conductivity with values ranging between 10−3 and 10−1 S·cm−1 at room temperature within the range of AC frequencies from 1 Hz to 1 MHz. Multimodal taper-tipped fibre microprobes were then fabricated and were characterized. This advanced design could provide promising tools for in vivo electrophysiological experiments that require light delivery through an optical core in addition to neuronal activity recording.

Highlights

Matrix that allows the dissolution of high concentrations of silver ions without crystallization
The first one consists in a fiber with two circular cores with an offset from the fiber’s central axis, wherein the electrically conductive core is made of 45AgI-43AgPO3-12WO3 glass, while the light guiding core is made of commercial transparent polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymers for the core/cladding configuration, respectively
We demonstrated that the single-core AgI-AgPO3-WO3 fibers and the dual-core AgI-AgPO3-WO3/polymer fibers can provide optical transmission in the near-infrared ranges (i.e. 700–1000 nm) and the visible respectively, with attenuation in the order of 10−1 dB·cm−1

Summary

Introduction

Matrix that allows the dissolution of high concentrations of silver ions without crystallization. Practical utilization can be envisaged for these AAW glasses to take full advantage of their unique capability to combine various properties in a single material: they conduct electricity, are optically transparent, are stretchable into fibers and depending on their composition, are durable against water. Another advantage of these materials for the targeted application is their ionic nature. The characterization of these fibers includes light attenuation measurements between 400 nm–1000 nm and the measurement of electrical properties at AC frequencies from 1Hz to 1MHz, at temperatures between 25 °C and 75 °C

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Conclusion