Fiber optic sheets of ridged polymer films

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Optoelectronics
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Fiber optic sheets are crucial for light transmission applications.
• Existing fabrication methods may have limitations in controlling optical properties.
• Development of novel techniques is needed for advanced optical materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a new method for fabricating fiber optic sheets.
• To control the diffusion profile of monomers within polymer films.
• To evaluate the optical performance, specifically attenuation, of the fabricated sheets.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of fiber optic sheets using monomer diffusion into ridged polymer films.
• Polymerization induced by gamma-ray irradiation.
• Control of diffusion profiles (clad and self-focusing types) by adjusting diffusion conditions.
• Measurement of optical attenuation at 633 nm in a polycarbonate light path with methyl acrylate cladding.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated fiber optic sheets with a density of 10 lines/mm.
• Demonstrated control over diffusion profiles, ranging from clad to self-focusing types.
• Achieved low optical attenuation of 0.5-0.7 dB/cm at 633 nm in the polycarbonate (n=1.59) and methyl acrylate (n=1.49) system.

Conclusions:

• The new technique offers a controllable method for producing fiber optic sheets.
• The fabricated sheets exhibit promising low optical loss, suitable for light transmission.
• This method provides a pathway for designing customized optical properties in fiber optic materials.