Polymer optical fiber with tunable, hydrolytically stable overcladding
AssigneeChromis Fiberoptics, Inc.
InventorsWhitney Ryan White, Nazi Faisal Chowdhury, Gabor Kiss
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Abstract
A polymer optical fiber is provided which shows improved hydrolytic stability. This fiber comprises a polymeric optical core and cladding layer, surrounded by a polymeric overcladding layer which comprises a miscible blend of one or more hydrolytically stable amorphous polymers. By varying the ratios of the component polymers in the overcladding blend, the glass transition temperature and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the overcladding layer may be tuned to optimize the attenuation and bandwidth of the plastic optical fiber.
Claims14
A polymer optical fiber comprising at least three layers, including:
- (a) a light-guiding core layer comprising a first amorphous polymer material which has a relatively higher first refractive index;
- (b) a cladding layer comprising a second amorphous polymer material, which has a second refractive index lower than the first refractive index of the first amorphous polymer material of the light-guiding core;
- (c) an outermost overcladding polymer layer comprising an amorphous, miscible blend of polymers, containing at least 1-99% by weight of a third amorphous polymer, with a complementary weight percentage of one or more other polymers;
- where the amorphous, miscible blend of polymers in the overcladding polymer layer comprises a cyclic olefin polymer with a glass transition below 70° C.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.