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Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light
Published on: July 29, 2013
Homogeneous Distribution of Polymerizable Coumarin Dyes for Active Few Mode POF
Florian Jakobs1, Kristoffer Harms1, Jana Kielhorn1
1Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
Abstract:
For most kinds of active polymer optical fibers, a homogeneous distribution of dye molecules over the entire fiber length and cross section is required. In this study, chemical bonding of dyes to poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) by copolymerization is achieved within the polymerization process instead of dissolving the dyes in the monomers. In combination with an improved fabrication mechanism, this leads to homogeneous dye distribution within the preforms. A method for proving the integration of the dyes into the polymer chains has been developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Prestructured core-cladding preforms with dye-doped poly(cylohexyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate)-core have been prepared with the Teflon string technique and were heat-drawn to few mode fibers.
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