WOMBLE - waveguides and optical materials for biomedical and high resolution sensing applications using light enhancement

这项建议的重点是开发新型的二氧化硅光纤，这种光纤在制造过程中利用光纤对拉丝塔上的紫外光的光敏响应，通过后处理增强瑞利散射。我们最近已经证明，光纤的紫外线照射使瑞利散射显著增加100倍，这使得高灵敏度传感温度、应变或压力具有高信噪比。这项技术将使高散射光纤(ISOF)能够被制造出来，并在后处理后用聚合物涂层进行保护，以便立即使用。与这一主题相关的是基于二氧化硅纤维基本成分的新型弹性光敏聚合物--聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)的开发。该聚合物的合成将在不影响其机械性能的情况下增强其光敏性，从而保持其弹性性能。3D打印技术将被开发用于直接打印复杂的结构和光纤，用于LED照明和生物医学应用，例如在芯片实验室中。增强的瑞利散射和3D可打印的稳定光敏弹性体这两项创新将极大地提高加拿大在世界上的竞争力。

This proposal is focused on the development of novel silica optical fibres which have enhanced Rayleigh scatter by post processing using the fibre's photosensitive response with UV light on the fibre pulling tower during the manufacture. We have shown very recently that UV exposure of an optical fibre dramatically increases the Rayleigh scatter by x100, which allows high sensitivity sensing temperature, strain or pressure with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This technique will enable high scatter optical fibre (ISOF) to be manufactured and protected with a polymer coating after post processing, ready for immediate use. Connected to this theme is the development of novel elastomeric photosensitive polymers, poly-dimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) based on the basic ingredient of the silica fibre -SiO2. The polymer will be synthesized to enhance its photosensitivity without compromising its mechanical properties, so that its elastomeric properties will be retained. 3D printing techniques will be developed to directly print complex structures and optical fibres for use with LED lighting and biomedical applications, e.g. in lab-on-a-chip.These two innovations of enhanced Rayleigh scatter and 3D printable stable photosensitive elastomers will greatly enhance the competitiveness of Canada in the world.