Single-Polymer Multicore Optical Fiber for Lower Interface Losses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing multicore micro-endoscopes face challenges in accurately forming fiber optic cores and claddings, leading to optical transmission losses due to material incompatibilities and imperfect bonding.
Innovation Solution
A method involving photopolymerization of a transparent polymer using ultraviolet radiation from an excimer laser to create elongated regions with increased refractive index, forming cores surrounded by non-irradiated regions acting as cladding, ensuring precise bonding and reduced optical losses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional methods are used to produce multicore micro-endoscopes, then manufacturing process is simpler, but optical transmission losses occur due to material incompatibilities and imperfect bonding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the core and cladding into a single polymer material structure, eliminating the need for separate material bonding. The photopolymerized regions form cores surrounded by non-irradiated cladding regions of the same base polymer, ensuring perfect bonding and eliminating optical transmission losses at interfaces between different materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses photopolymerization to change the physical and chemical parameters of the polymer in specific regions. By irradiating selected elongated regions with ultraviolet radiation, the polymer undergoes cross-linking and densification, increasing its refractive index and forming the core structure while maintaining compatibility with the cladding region.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional methods are used, then manufacturing process is easier, but fiber optic cores and claddings are not accurately formed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by selectively photopolymerizing specific elongated regions of the polymer while leaving other regions non-irradiated. The optical components are configured to focus radiation only on the desired core regions, creating precise boundaries between photopolymerized cores and non-irradiated cladding regions with accurate geometric control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical or chemical bonding methods with photopolymerization. The ultraviolet radiation induces cross-linking and densification of the polymer chains in the irradiated regions, creating a permanent, precise structural definition of cores and claddings without relying on mechanical assembly or chemical adhesives.
3Reliability
If photopolymerization is used to form cores, then optical losses are reduced and bonding is improved, but the process requires precise control of radiation focus
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs optical components that serve multiple functions: focusing the ultraviolet radiation, shaping the beam profile, and controlling the spatial distribution of photopolymerization. The same optical system defines both the core regions and the cladding boundaries, eliminating the need for separate processing steps or multiple material layers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method achieves lower optical losses and accurate core formation by photopolymerizing transparent polymers like PMMA, resulting in efficient light transmission through multicore micro-endoscopes.
Implementation Method 1
a source of electromagnetic radiation in a spectral range that is suitable for inducing photopolymerization of a transparent polymer
Implementation Method 2
an arrangement of one or more optical components configured to concurrently focus the radiation that is emitted by the source on a plurality of elongated regions of the transparent polymer
Data Source
AI summary
A system for producing a multicore optical fiber includes a source of electromagnetic radiation in a spectral range that is suitable for inducing photopolymerization of a transparent polymer. An arrangement of one or more optical components is configured to concurrently focus the radiation that is emitted by the source on a plurality of elongated regions of the transparent polymer so as to photopolymerize the transparent polymer solely in the elongated regions to increase the index of refraction of the elongated regions such that in the optical fiber that is formed of the transparent polymer after the elongated regions are photopolymerized, each of the elongated regions functions as a core of the optical fiber and regions of the transparent polymer that surround the elongated regions function as a cladding of each of the cores.