HIGH PERFORMANCE ULTRAVIOLET THROUGH INFRARED OPTICAL FIBER SYSTEM

OPTICAL FIBERS CAN BE DEVELOPED TO TRANSMIT INTENSE LASER RADIATION THROUGH SELECTIVE CHOICE OF MATERIALS AND DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR THE FIBERS IN THE WAVELENGTH RANGE OF 0.193-10.6 MICRON. THESE FIBERS CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR PROGRAMMED DELIVERY OF LASER ENERGY AND INTEGRITY VERIFICATION. THE PRESENT PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A PHASE I FEASIBILITY STUDY PROGRAM COMPRISING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DEDICATED SILICA CORE 0.22 NA FIBER SOURCE SPECIFIALLY TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF INTENSE LASER RADIATION AT WAVELENGTHS 0.193-2.0 MICRON, A TRADE STUDY OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR DESIGN OF THE ELECTRO-OPTIC MODULE, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A LABORATORY PROTOTYPE DISTRIBUTOR AS WELL AS AN INTEGRITY VERIFICATION SYSTEM. THE STUDY WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED BY CRITICALLY REVIEWING OPTICAL FIBER MATERIALS SUITABLE AT 10.6 MICRON AND STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNIQUES FOR POLISHING THE END SURFACES OF THE FIBER.