High Strength Hollow Fiber for IR Optic Applications

Hollow waveguides provide an attractive alternative to conventional solid-core infrared fiber optics because of the inherent advantage of their hollow core. Hollow waveguides not only cover a full spectrum of infrared wavelength for sensing and imaging applications, but also enjoy the advantage of high laser power thresholds, low insertion loss, no end reflection, ruggedness, and small bean divergence. Hollow carbon fibers represent one of the best technologies for power delivery in medical and industrial laser systems with losses as low as 0.1 dB/m and transmitted laser powers as high as 2.7 kW. This program proposes optimization development of high-strength and high-flexibility hollow fiber bundles, based on innovative carbon material processing and the gold coating of the hollow carbon fibers. The proposed infrared waveguides take full advantages of the outstanding structure and mechanical properties of the carbon, and the best infrared reflectivity and chemical stability of the gold, allowing high performance applications with small bending radius, high temperature and operating in harsh environments, at low cost.