Optical fibers, methods of their formation, and methods of their use

Inventors

Seifert, Martin F.

Assignees

Koninklijke Philips NV

Abstract

An example of an optical fiber includes an attenuating cladding disposed around a first waveguide (e.g., a core) and a waveguide (e.g., a waveguide cladding) disposed around the attenuating cladding. An attenuating cladding may be a doped layer that may be doped with, for example, a dopant comprising metal. A first waveguide and a second waveguide may each transmit light for a distinct sample characterization technique. An example of an optical fiber includes a core, a first intermediate cladding disposed around the core, an attenuating cladding disposed around the first intermediate cladding, an attenuating cladding disposed around the first intermediate cladding, a second intermediate cladding disposed around the attenuating cladding, a waveguide cladding disposed around the second intermediate cladding, and outer cladding disposed around the waveguide cladding, and an outer coating around the outer cladding. An optical fiber may be formed using a rod-in-tube process.

Core Innovation

The disclosure relates to an optical characterization fiber that includes an optical fiber having a first waveguide and an attenuating cladding disposed around the first waveguide, and a second waveguide disposed around the attenuating cladding. The attenuating cladding is constructed, sized, and shaped to suppress cross-talk from leaked light by optically isolating light propagation between the first waveguide and the second waveguide into the attenuating cladding.

The attenuating cladding is characterized by attenuation-length and high-percentage attenuation constraints, and its extinction coefficient is higher than adjacent waveguides or claddings. The attenuating cladding is further described as being doped, including metal-containing dopants and Rayleigh scatterers, and the imaginary part of refractive index is higher for the attenuating cladding than for the first waveguide and the second waveguide.

The disclosure also describes systems and use with a rotary junction in optical communication with the optical fiber and physically connected to a probe. In such systems, first and second signals are transmitted through the rotary junction and through the first waveguide and the second waveguide, where the first signal is for a first characterization technique and the second signal is for a distinct second technique.

Claims Coverage

The document includes two independent claims. The claims cover an optical fiber with a first waveguide, an attenuating cladding around the first waveguide, and a second waveguide around the attenuating cladding, together with a rotary junction connected to a probe, and a method of transmitting distinct signals for distinct characterization techniques while completely attenuating any signal propagated into the attenuating cladding.

Across the independent claims, the core coverage is complete optical attenuation of any light that propagates between a first waveguide and a second waveguide via an attenuating cladding, combined with coupling through a rotary junction to enable distinct characterization signals through respective waveguides while ensuring complete attenuation of any signal that enters the attenuating cladding.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications