STTR PHASE I: A Novel Continuous Production Method for Rugged Gradient Index Plastic Optical Fiber

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*** 9632052 Walker This STTR Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of a continuous process of producing rugged, low moisture content, high bandwidth, gradient index plastic optical fiber. Existing Japanese production methods result in bandwidths which are three to ten times less than theoretically possible, and the bandwidth of the fiber is not stable and reproducible. The production rate is intrinsically limited by the batch nature of the process and, or, multi-step procedure. In the United States, the High-Speed Plastic Network (HSPN) consortium was formed in 1994, and is supported by a $5 million Advanced Research Projects Agency grant. A member of that team has licensed one of the Japanese batch technologies to fabricate the above type of fiber. This project will develop a novel, low cost, continous production process for the fiber. The fiber will have a stable bandwidth of 2 GHz.km, be stable from -40 C to + 150 C, have low moisture uptake, attenuation of less than 150dB/kilometer and be stable to radiation exposure up to 1000 Rad. This type of fiber is expected to have great utility in high speed local area networks. Local area networks have inadequate band width for the anticipated needs in the coming years. Gradient index plastic optical fiber will be the most cost effective solution with adequate band-width. At present there is no satisfactory production process for a rugged version of this fiber. ***