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

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)二期项目将推进通过低成本连续挤出工艺可靠地制造低衰减、超高带宽、分级折射率、全氟化聚合物光纤(GI-POF)的技术。目前，在数据中心、超级计算和消费电子等快速增长的应用中，对易于使用、坚固耐用的介质的需求尚未得到满足，这种介质允许将数据通信迁移到每秒10千兆位甚至更高的速度。该项目将生产高质量的塑料纤维，其带宽与最好的多模玻璃纤维相同，但安装过程简单，弯曲半径公差比玻璃纤维允许的弯曲半径大五倍。该项目将致力于将该技术开发成商业上可行的产品的三个方面：1)先进的挤出工艺开发，以极大地改善光纤带宽分配和衰减，同时使生产速度翻一番；2)研究证明，可以将光纤工作温度提高到85℃的新型聚合物；3)研究和开发一种独特的、易于制造的多芯光纤设计，可以为客户提供几乎无限的带宽，并极大地提高紧弯时的衰减率。同样，使用POF开发下一代短距离通信系统的美国公司也将受益，因为他们将更好地获得信息和基于GI-POF的定制产品。该项目的成果将有助于改善美国多个数据通信制造领域的“生态系统”。此外，通过实现一种使高带宽布线的安装变得更简单和更便宜的产品，第二阶段项目将为学校、医院和其他机构带来相当大的好处，这些机构对高带宽通信有许多需求，但通常没有大笔预算来支持此类系统。第二阶段项目的科学效益可能是简化和低成本地建造大规模并行计算设施，并增加对无定形氟聚合物及其前体化学品的化学合成技术的商业兴趣。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will advance the technology for reliably manufacturing low attenuation, ultrahigh bandwidth, graded-index, perfluorinated polymer optical fibers (GI-POF) by a low cost continuous extrusion process. Currently there is an unmet need for an easy-to-use, rugged medium that allows the migration of data communications to speeds of 10 Gigabits per second, and beyond, in rapidly growing applications such as data centers, supercomputing and consumer electronics. This project will result in a production quality process for manufacturing plastic fibers having bandwidth equal to the best multimode glass fibers, but with a simple "plug-and-clamp" installation process, and tolerance of bend radii fivefold tighter than that allowed by glass fibers. The project will address three areas to develop the technology into commercially viable products: 1) Advanced extrusion process development to greatly improve fiber bandwidth distribution and attenuation, while doubling production speed; 2) Investigation to prove-in new polymers that can increase the fiber operating temperature up to 85 deg C; 3) Investigation and development of a unique, readily manufactured multi-core fiber design that can offer customers almost unlimited bandwidth, as well as greatly improved attenuation in tight bends.If successful the production technologies developed in this project will result in the possible recapturing of American leadership in POF manufacturing while stimulating American-based production of the manufacturing capital equipment used in this industry. Similarly, American companies using POF to develop next-generation short-distance communication systems will also benefit, as they will enjoy better access to information and custom products based on GI-POF. The results of this project will help improve the "ecosystem" for many areas of datacom manufacturing in the US. Also, by enabling a product that makes installation of high-bandwidth cabling much simpler and less expensive, the Phase II project will be of considerable benefit to schools, hospitals, and other institutions which have many needs for high-bandwidth communication, but often do not have large budgets to support such systems. The scientific benefits of the Phase II project are likely to be the simplified and lower-cost construction of massively parallel computing facilities, and increased commercial interest in chemical synthesis techniques for amorphous fluoropolymers and their precursor chemicals.