Fiber optic structure, fiber optic preform, and methods for fabricating a perforated fiber preform and a perforated fiber, and for guiding light along a perforated fiber structure

摘要

"OPTICAL FIBER STRUCTURE Optical fiber preform, and methods for making a perforated fiber preform, and a perforated fiber, and for guiding light along a perforated fiber structure". An optical fiber structure comprising a perforated fiber (20) arranged in a perforated outer support structure consisting of perforated tubes (22) encapsulated in a thin walled outer shell (24) is described. The perforated fiber may have a solid core surrounded by a perforated coating comprising a plurality of hole rings. With the invention, it is possible to produce robust coated and encapsulated fibers with their own microstructure core shapes of relatively small size using the existing fiber manufacturing technology relatively easily. This improvement is a result of an external perforated structure that reduces the thermal mass of the support structure and enables reliably and controllably maintain small hole shapes during the fiber manufacturing process.