Researchers from Clemson University are bringing ordinary materials to unordinary places by converting readily obtainable and affordable materials into sapphire optical fiber. We have now reached the point where there is so much light packed in fiber cables that the silica material used to manufacture it fundamentally can\u2019t handle the intensity and has begun interacting and working against us, via phenomenon like Brillouin scattering.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe have used a highly purified version of beach sand (silica) for fiber for the last 40 years. As a matter of fact, the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the development of silica optical fibers. However, while silica has done remarkably well over time, it is now being pushed to its limits for faster and cheaper data and new functionality,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
says John Ballato, director of the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies at Clemson University.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAt high power, the light causes the atoms of the material to vibrate more violently and those vibrations convert some of the light energy into sound energy which restricts the ability of the fiber to carry more power,\u201d said Ballato. \u201cThis, in turn, lessens the amount of light that can travel through the fiber, which limits the amount of information that can be sent for telecommunications uses and power for high-energy laser applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The need for stronger and more durable fiber material is greater than ever before and will only increase with technological advancement. Clemson researchers are focusing on providing a materials-based solution for fiber optics data saturation, particularly one that can be sold commercially. The goal is to take a robust, affordable, and easily accessible material that can take the brunt of greater intensity and convert that material into a fiber.<\/p>\n
Why Sapphire?<\/h2>\n