SBIR Phase I: Extrusion Manufacturing Process for Ultrahigh Bandwidth, Low Attenuation Graded-Index Polymer Optical Fibers

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I project will address the feasibility of producing low attenuation, ultrahigh bandwidth perfluorinated polymer optical fibers (POF) by a low-cost continuous extrusion process. Currently, there is an unmet need for a very simple, easy to use optical medium for multi-Gb/s networks in applications such as hospital systems, educational institutions, defense and security systems and industrial controls. Polymer optical fibers greatly simplify connectorization and lower installation costs of fiber optic links, but their use has been limited by their low bandwidth and high attenuation. The company invented a unique multi-layer extrusion process for forming a plastic optical fiber with a graded-index core by controlling the diffusion of a refractive-index-raising dopant in the flowing perfluorinated polymer. The extruded POF has attenuation levels below 30 dB/km and supports high bandwidths (~300MHz-km) through reduced modal dispersion. The goal of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of using the extrusion process to manufacture POF with much higher bandwidth performance, comparable to that of the best silica multimode fiber (better than 2 GHz-km). The graded-index perfluorinated POF (GI-POF) extrusion technology developed by the company is the most competitive method for high volume manufacturing of new high performance GI-POF products. The successful commercialization of a GI-POF extrusion technology that enables ultra-high speed communications could establish the United States as a commercial and technological leader in polymer optical fiber. As high-speed communications move into many new applications, leadership in GI-POF manufacturing technology may be expected to be of increasing economic importance. In addition to providing a solution to the current unmet need for an easy-to-use high-speed optical medium, GI-POF is expected to have significant penetration in commercial markets for high-speed enterprise and home LAN. The availability of the high bandwidth GI-POF could hasten the penetration of ultra-high bandwidth services such as interactive video to homes and businesses.