GLASS MATERIALS FOR FIBER OPTICS

Description of the project: Development of new glasses for a light-guiding core, reflective and protective cladding of ri
gid optical fiber. Rigid multimode optical fiber is the basis of fiber-optic converters and is a system consisting of a light-guiding core and two (reflective and protective) cladding. On
e of the most important problems of science and practice of modern glass making, determining the effective development of electronics, medicine, instrumentation, communication, is the creation of high-quality fiber-optic el
ements. Scientific novelty lies in the development of new glassy materials for fiber optics, which can reduce the yield of substandard fiber-optic products by 10 –12% due to elimination of crystallization processes in glasses and increase the throughput of the fiber-optic product.

Benefits:

A distinctive feature of this development is the optimal ratio of oxides, which made it possible to exclude crystallization processes in glasses and at the interface between the “light-guiding core – reflective shell – protective shell”. The developed glass compositions for optical fiber are matched with each other in terms of refractive index, thermal expansion coefficient and viscosity characteristics in such a way that increased light transmission of the finished fiber-optic element and a 10–12% lower yield of substandard products in comparison with industrial analogs are provided.

Achieved results: 

A pilot batch of fiber-optic plates was manufactured in the conditions of the OJSC “Plant” Optic “(g. Lida, Republic of Belarus), technological parameters for the production of fiber-optic plates based on the developed glass compositions for the light-guiding core, reflective and protective shells of hard optical fiber have been developed.

Market and consumers:

It is used in medicine, electronics, automotive, instrumentation, and defense industries as the basis of all night vision devices.