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Researchers use 3D printing to make glass optical fiber preform

Researchers have developed a way to 3D-print preforms that can be used for drawing silica glass optical fibers, which form the backbone of the global telecommunications network.

This new fabrication method would not only simplify production of these fibers, but also enable designs and applications that weren’t possible before.

“Making silica optical fiber involves the labor-intensive process of spinning tubes on a lathe, which requires the fiber’s core or cores to be precisely centered,” explained John Canning, who led the research team from the University of Technology in Sydney. “With additive manufacturing, there’s no need for the fiber geometry to be centered. This removes one of the greatest limitations in fiber design and greatly reduces the cost of fiber manufacturing.”

In The Optical Society journal Optics Letters, Canning’s group, in collaboration with Gang-Ding Peng’s research team at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, have reported the first silica glass fibers drawn from 3D-printed preforms.

“Additive manufacturing approaches such as 3D printing are well-suited to change the entire approach to fiber design and purpose,” said Canning. “This could, for example, broaden the applications of fiber-optic sensors, which far outperform electronic equivalents in terms of longevity, calibration, and maintenance but haven’t been widely deployed because of their expensive fabrication.”