Work

Particle-modified polymeric cladding on glass optical fibers enhances radial light scattering

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Radially light-emitting optical fibers are of increasing interest for applications in medicine, visible aesthetics, and environmental remediation. Optical fibers contain a light guiding core coated by protective polymer layers (cladding and coating), which assure both the strength and flexibility of the optical fiber. This paper examines the feasibility of scattering light radially from fibers by loading the fiber cladding with particle scattering centers during the optical fiber fabrication process. This work uses an in-line full-scale scalable facility to coat the fibers and control the polymer cladding and silica sphere. Loadings up to 2.0 wt. % of 500 nm silica particles on the cladding of the optical fiber led to an average of 80 times higher scattering for visible light and up to 30 times higher in the UVA wavelength range compared against cladding without particle modifications. This study illustrated the feasibility of fabricating broadband light scattering optical fibers for use with modified polymeric cladding.

Source: Journal of the Optical Society of America B

DOI: 10.1364/josab.36.001623

Authors: Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes, Sergi Garcia-Segura, Kiril Hristovski, Mike Messerly, A. J. Simon, Paul Westerhoff

Institutions: Arizona State University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Random lasers and scattering media

Subfield: Acoustics and Ultrasonics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Laboratory Directed Research and Development

Awards: NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nantechnology Enabled Water Treatment Systems (NEWT), G14554683, G4594201961, IGERT: Solar Utilization Network (SUN)