Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




TECH SPACE
Hollow optical fibres for UV light
by Staff Writers
Erlangen, Germany (SPX) Jul 14, 2014


Microscopic image of a hollow-core optical fibre. Image courtesy MPL.

If you want to send light on a trip through optical fibres - with as little loss as possible, you should opt for infrared light, as is the case, for example, in the telecommunication networks worldwide. For certain applications, such as spectroscopic investigations on ions or atoms, however, (laser) light in the ultraviolet range is required. But this type of light would quickly damage conventional optical fibres.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Erlangen/Germany and of the QUEST Institute, based at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), have tested a new type of optical fibre with a hollow core and have found out that this type of optical fibre was able to guide UV laser light without being damaged and with acceptable loss.

Their investigations, which they have recently published in the journal "Optics Express", are interesting for numerous applications: besides precision spectroscopy on atoms or ions and their use in optical atomic clocks or quantum computers, fluorescence microscopy in biology, the investigation of process plasmas, combustion studies on soot or the spectroscopy of greenhouse gases would be other possible fields of application.

Optical fibres usually have a solid glass core. This glass core is coated with an optically thinner material. The laws of physics ensure that a light beam is kept inside such a fibre thanks to total reflection and that it can be transported over long distances without significant loss.

Such optical fibres are therefore widely used worldwide to transport light of different spectral ranges - from the infrared up to the visible light range. UV light, however, has a shorter wavelength and is therefore strongly absorbed by the glass used in most types of optical fibres and the fibres are quickly damaged by UV light.

At the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Erlangen, experiments with other types of optical fibre have been carried out for a few years. Now, it has turned out that a certain type of optical fibre is particularly well-suited for UV light: a microstructured photonic crystal fibre (PCF) with a so-called "Kagome structure" - a special pattern consisting of triangles and of hexagons in a regular arrangement - and a hollow core of 20 um in diameter.

This core ensures a single-mode guiding of the light - i.e. with a spatial intensity distribution similar to the shape of a Gaussian bell-shaped curve. The crucial question was to know whether this transport was really single-mode and damage-free, and this is what the metrological experts from the QUEST Institute at PTB had to find out.

Their investigations have shown that in the case of the UV beam used, with a wavelength of 280 nm, single-mode transmission was possible and that even after more than 100 hours in operation at a power of 15 mW, no UV-induced damage could be detected.

The optical fibres have even passed a first application test: the researchers at the QUEST Institute have used them successfully for their spectroscopic investigations on trapped ions. Stabilized by the new fibre, the UV laser beam allows an improved interrogation of the ions' internal state.

Besides the users of such spectroscopic methods (for example in astronomy, chemistry or fundamental research in physics), this could also be useful for researchers who are developing quantum computers, since in that field, the internal states of a particle are the new digital 0s and 1s

.


Related Links
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





TECH SPACE
Strange physics turns off laser
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jun 24, 2014
Inspired by anomalies that arise in certain mathematical equations, researchers have demonstrated a laser system that paradoxically turns off when more power is added rather than becoming continuously brighter. The finding by a team of researchers at Vienna University of Technology and Princeton University, could lead to new ways to manipulate the interaction of electronics and light, an i ... read more


TECH SPACE
NASA LRO's Moon As Art Collection Is Revealed

Solar photons drive water off the moon

55-year old dark side of the moon mystery solved

New evidence supporting moon formation via collision of 2 planets

TECH SPACE
First LDSD Test Flight a Success

Rover Has Enough Energy for Some Late-Night Work

Curiosity travels through ancient glaciers on Mars

New Type of Dust in Martian Atmosphere Discovered

TECH SPACE
Taiwan's tourism revenue hits record high in 2013

Fruit fly immunity fails with fungus after (space)flight

From Deep Sea to Deep Space

Commercial Crew Partners Focus on Testing, Analysis to Advance Designs

TECH SPACE
Chinese moon rover designer shooting for Mars

Yutu designer's bittersweet

Are China's Astronauts Moonbound

Chinese scientists prepare for lunar base life support system

TECH SPACE
Space junk damages ISS US segment

NASA Television Coverage Set for Orbital-2 Mission to Space Station

Spot the Space Station looking at you

Closing the recycling circle

TECH SPACE
Eco-Friendly 'Angara' Rocket Installed On Plesetsk Launch Pad

Final ATV loaded with cargo after integration on Ariane 5

Singapore launches its first nano-satellite

NASA's sounding rocket crashes into Atlantic

TECH SPACE
Discovery expands search for Earth-like planets

Astronomers discover most Earth-like of all exoplanets

Mega-Earth in Draco Smashes Notions of Planetary Formation

Kepler space telescope ready to start new hunt for exoplanets

TECH SPACE
Speeding up data storage by a thousand times with 'spin current'

A million times better

With 'ribbons' of graphene, width matters

Interlayer distance in graphite oxide gradually changes when water is added




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.