Novel Infrared Materials and Fiber Bundles for Infrared Imaging

Imaging fiber bundles with their flexibility in bending and ability of delivering imaging information to an camera located away from the immediate focal plane of the imaging lens has proved its usefulness to avoid local strong electromagnetic interference to the camera electronics in a harsh application environment. Imaging fiber bundles can also facilitate the formation of wide field-of-view system using a single camera. This has great significance to infrared imaging by minimizing the number of expensive cameras. However, existing imaging fiber bundles are mainly working in the visible and near infrared wavelength bands. They cannot support the infrared imaging requirements. Currently development of specialized infrared fibers based on chalcogenide glasses may results in high infrared transmission fiber bundles. The problem is that these fibers are very expensive and also relative brittle and fragile. New Span Opto-Technology Inc. proposes herein the development of low cost, flexible, high infrared transmission polymer and sol gel fibers and fiber bundles to meet the infrared imaging requirements. The development will first identify suitable high transmission infrared polymer and sol gel materials through a fast quantum chemical molecular simulation combined with combinatorial chemistry process. Then the desired infrared fiber bundles will be fabricated at low cost.