US 8,948,560 B1 · Elevating numerical aperture of optical systems

Abstract

An optical material can be formed by creating extremely small voids or gas-filled bubbles in a polymeric material, such as a thermoplastic or a fluoropolymer. The voids or gas-filled bubbles can reduce the refractive index of the optical material substantially below the polymeric material's refractive index. Dimensionally, the voids or gas-filled bubbles can be smaller than the wavelength of light that is intended to interact with the optical material, thereby avoiding undue scattering loss. The voids or gas-filled bubbles can be formed via adding particles of gas-generating material to the polymeric material and heating the resulting composition. The voids or gas-filled bubbles can form as the heat causes the polymeric material to melt and the particles to generate gas. The optical material can be utilized as a cladding to provide a high numerical aperture optical fiber, for example.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A method, for fabricating an optical waveguide that is operable to convey light of a wavelength, comprising the steps of:

heating each particle to be added to an optical polymer to consume a portion of each particle's gas generation capacity;
forming a composition in response to adding particles to the optical polymer;
coating at least a portion of an optical waveguide core with the composition;
and
forming bubbles in the optical polymer from respective ones of the added particles in response to heating the composition, a majority of the formed bubbles having a diameter that is significantly smaller than the wavelength at room temperature.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Elevating numerical aperture of optical systems

Life of this patent

Elevating numerical aperture of optical systems

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims11