Talataisong Wanvisa, Ismaeel Rand, Marques Thiago H R, Abokhamis Mousavi Seyedmohammad, Beresna Martynas, Gouveia M A, Sandoghchi Seyed Reza, Lee Timothy, Cordeiro Cristiano M B, Brambilla Gilberto
Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
Instituto de Fisica "Gleb Wataghin", Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Sci Rep. 2018 May 25;8(1):8113. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26561-8.
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.
由于中红外（mid-IR）光纤在安全、生物和化学传感等领域具有广泛应用，长期以来一直备受关注。传统上，研究主要集中在中红外区域具有低吸收的材料，如硫属化物，但这类材料难以加工，且通常含有剧毒元素。在本文中，我们展示了一种在中红外具有导光特性的聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯二醇（PETG）空心光纤（HCF）。导光由光纤的几何结构提供，因为PETG的材料衰减比HCF的传播损耗大2个数量级。结构化塑料光纤预制棒采用商用3D打印技术制造，然后使用传统的光纤拉丝塔进行拉丝。最终的PETG光纤外径为466 µm，空心芯直径为225 µm。在3.5 - 5 µm波长范围内对光纤端面进行的热成像清楚地表明了光纤空心芯中的空气导光。
