Drawing optical fibers from three-dimensional printers.

The temperature distribution within extrusion nozzles of three low-cost desktop 3D printers is characterized using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) to assess their compatibility as micro-furnaces for optical fiber and taper production. These profiles show remarkably consistent distributions suitable for direct drawing of optical fiber. As proof of principle, coreless optical fibers (φ=30 µm) made from fluorinated acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) are drawn. Cutback measurements demonstrate propagation losses as low as α=0.26 dB/cm, which are comparable with standard optical fiber losses with some room for improvement. This work points toward direct optical fiber manufacture of any material from 3D printers.

Step-index optical fiber drawn from 3D printed preforms.

Optical fiber is drawn from a dual-head 3D printer fabricated preform made of two optically transparent plastics with a high-index core (NA∼0.25, V>60). The asymmetry observed in the fiber arises from asymmetry in the 3D printing process. The highly multimode optical fiber has losses measured by cut-back as low as α∼0.44 dB/cm in the near IR.