Fiber optic with hole that will enable telecommunications

2001/03/21 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

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The new optical fiber features holes of length thousands of times smaller than a millimeter. Moreover, it resembles already widely used optical fibers, such as those used to carry cable or desktop TV signals.

The perforated optical fibers are made by puncturing the tiny glass tubes into a compact glass bar. In this way they get a cylinder 3 cm wide by 1 meter long that heat and stretch it. The result is a fiber several kilometers long and about 125 micrometers wide. If this fiber is cut at any point you can see a compact heart surrounded by holes. The diameter of each gap may be less than a micrometer. In addition, the arrangement and dimension of the holes influences the way the fibers transmit light.

Since the arrangement and size of the holes can be determined according to the needs, the fiber can have the most suitable feature, for example, the light being sent through the fiber can be stored in a square of a micrometer side, or transported to a square of hundreds of micrometers side. If the central area is small, the optical switch can be activated with very low light intensity. This is very important for the height of optical computers. If large, it can be applied to high-power laser fibers.

Thanks to this flexibility, perforated optical fiber can contain many applications that have not yet been found. For example, you can open a new way of measuring contaminants in liquids and gases. The introduction of fiber optics in this liquid or gas and its influence on the brightness of light through the fiber allows to know fast and accurate information of the concentration of pollutants.

According to some studies, structures similar to perforated optical fibers can be used to channel atoms. Around a square central hole, a fiber was made with four other holes and in each of them a cable was inserted and the current was passed. Thus, through the central hole, they obtained a magnetic field that channels atoms. However, these investigations are beginning.

Although orifice optical fibers are not yet accessible, industrial demand is evident. Apparently, in a few years, the difference of a few holes will open a great distance between the present and the past.