One Step Pre-forms for Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibre

该项目生产的预成型棒将使聚合物光纤技术成为可能，就像玻璃预成型棒使今天的光纤成为可能一样。一步铸造技术将产生具有内部通道阵列的PMMA棒，这些通道可以是空的，也可以填充不同的透明聚合物。采用拉伸法制备了适用于高带宽通信的聚合物微结构光纤。汽车和建筑物的局部通信网络迫切需要它。固体PMOF通道对于这个项目来说是新的，并且应该使PMOF更容易部署。光传输模式和聚合物缺陷的纳米尺度映射将有助于验证通道设计。

The pre-form rods this project yields will enable polymer optical fibre technology, just as suitable glass pre-forms enabled today's optical fibre. One-step casting techniques will yield PMMA rods with arrays of internal channels which can be empty, or filled with different clear polymer. Polymer microstructured optical fibre (PMOF) suitable for high bandwidth communications is then produced by drawing. It is urgently needed for local communication networks in cars and buildings. Solid PMOF channels are new to this project, and should make PMOF easier to deploy. Nanoscale mapping of light transport modes and polymer defects will help validate channel designs.