Novel Dopant for Graded-Index Polymer Optical Fiber with High-Thermal Stability

Abstract

It is a challenging issue to develop a graded index polymer optical fiber (GI-POF) with sufficiently high thermal stability to be installed in the in-vehicle networks. Generally, a radial refractive index profile within the GI-POF is formed by adding a dopant to a polymer. This addition of the dopant significantly decreased the Tg of the polymer due to the plasticization. We demonstrated that 9-bromophenanthrene (BPT) had little plasticization on poly methyl methacrylate compared to conventional dopants, and propose the BPT as a potential dopant for the GI-POF.

Effect of dopant structure on refractive index and glass transition temperature of polymeric fiber-optic materials

“…A couple of studies have evaluated dopants for GI POFs, but most of these have focused on simple, commercially available chemicals. Herein, we report the effect of several novel aromatic sulfide dopants on the refractive index profiles and T g values of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and a copolymer of methyl 2‐chloroacrylate (MCA) and 2,2,2‐trichloroethyl methacrylate (TCEMA).…”

A highly transparent and thermally stable copolymer of 1-adamantyl methacrylate and styrene

“…The prepared copolymer has an AdMA/MMA composition = 30/70 mol% and the refractive index and T g are 1.507 and 155 °C, respectively. For the core, we added 1.00 mol% of DBT, which is one of the most efficient organic compounds for increasing the refractive index of the core polymer with a minimal decrease in T g . This method is used to prepare graded‐index plastic optical fibers (GI POFs) .…”

“…For the core, we added 1.00 mol% of DBT, which is one of the most efficient organic compounds for increasing the refractive index of the core polymer with a minimal decrease in T g . 50,51 This method is used to prepare graded-index plastic optical fibers (GI POFs). 52 The added dopant, whose refractive index is higher than that of the base polymer, diffuses into the cladding layer while the preform is heated in the oven.…”

High‐thermally stable and high‐bandwidth graded index plastic optical fiber for vehicle networks

“…1). 14 However, although the fabricated GI‐POF using BPT had high enough thermal stability for vehicle networks, the attenuation was 800 dB/km and it could not be used. This high attenuation was caused by contaminant in the fabrication process of fibers.…”