Novel Infrared Imaging Fiber Optic Bundles

Currently available IR fibers are inadequate for fiberoptic IR imager applications due to their narrow transmission range, unacceptably large optical loss, and high cost. These deleterious features have also hampered their acceptance for applications in chemical sensing, thermometry, and laser power delivery. In this program, Agiltron Inc. proposes to develop an entirely new type of IR fiber that holds the promise of providing inexpensive, rugged, high fiber-count bundles for commercial use in the mid-IR spectrum range. Our novel approach is advantageously based on a bromide glass material system of remarkably high performance and closely coupled with a clad glass technology. The innovation potentially offers a new generation of inexpensive IR fibers, transparent over the entire mid-IR spectral range (1-12 mm) and having ultra-low optical loss comparable to that of communication fibers. In the Phase I program, we will demonstrate the feasibility by producing low loss IR fiber with a novel direct fiber drawing method. The material optimization and practical IR fiber image bundle will also be systematically studied.