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Polymers
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Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications
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Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2023) | Viewed by 19871

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Igor Ayesta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Applied Mathematics, Engineering School of Bilbao, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
Interests: polymer optical fibers; plastic optical fibers; fluorescence; amplification; amplified spontaneous emission; spectroscopy; optical fiber sensors
Prof. Dr. Maria Asunción Illarramendi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Applied Physics I, Engineering School of Bilbao, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain
Interests: fluorescent and luminescent materials; dye-doped polymers; fiber optics; polymer optical fiber; fiber optics amplifiers; fiber oscillators and lasers; fluorescent fiber solar concentrators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

 

Polymer optical fibers (POFs) have very interesting characteristics for short-haul communications links, as well as for other applications in fields such as optical sensing, ambient illumination and display systems, data centers, and home networks. As compared to glass fibers, POFs are easier and more economical to manufacture, safer to handle, and much more flexible. Moreover, their lower manufacturing temperatures makes possible to embed a wide range of dopants in the fiber core, from organic dyes and conjugated polymers to other kinds of materials, such as rare-earth ions and quantum dots. The incorporation of these dopants can be suitable for achieving luminescence in the visible region of the spectrum, which is interesting for a wide range of applications, such as luminescent solar concentrators, superluminiscent speckle-free light sources, and light amplifiers. This Special Issue will present an overview as well as in-depth information on latest developments of POF technology. The Special Issue will also be focused on novel applications of both passive and active POFs. Of particular interest are the fibers, and their corresponding set-ups, oriented to risk-prevention systems and structural-health monitoring, healthcare and biomedicine, care for the environment and prevention of natural disasters, photonic devices, and renewable energies, among other applications. Considering your prominent contribution in this research topic, we would like to cordially invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and review papers on this subject can also be considered.  We would very much appreciate if you would consider being one of our authors. 

Dr. Igor Ayesta
Prof. Dr. Maria Asunción Illarramendi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymer optical fibers
  • active polymer fibers
  • fluorescence polymer fibers and nanofibers
  • passive components
  • fiber and materials characterization
  • industrial, automotive and aerospace applications
  • biomedical applications
  • illuminations and signs
  • polymer fiber for solar concentrators
  • polymer fiber sensors
  • polymer fiber lasers
  • polymer fiber amplifiers

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 1244 KiB  
Communication
Power Flow in Multimode Graded-Index Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibers
by Svetislav Savović, Ana Simović, Branko Drljača, Milan S. Kovačević, Ljubica Kuzmanović, Alexandar Djordjevich, Konstantinos Aidinis and Rui Min
Polymers 2023, 15(6), 1474; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15061474 - 16 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1712 | Correction
Abstract
We investigate mode coupling in a multimode graded-index microstructured polymer optical fiber (GI mPOF) with a solid core by solving the time-independent power flow equation (TI PFE). Using launch beams with various radial offsets, it is possible to calculate for such an optical [...] Read more.
We investigate mode coupling in a multimode graded-index microstructured polymer optical fiber (GI mPOF) with a solid core by solving the time-independent power flow equation (TI PFE). Using launch beams with various radial offsets, it is possible to calculate for such an optical fiber the transients of the modal power distribution, the length Lc at which an equilibrium mode distribution (EMD) is reached, and the length zs for establishing a steady-state distribution (SSD). In contrast to the conventional GI POF, the GI mPOF explored in this study achieves the EMD at a shorter length Lc. The earlier shift to the phase of slower bandwidth decrease would result from the shorter Lc. These results are helpful for the implementation of multimode GI mPOFs as a part of communications and optical fiber sensory systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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14 pages, 3579 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Rotational Sensor Using Polymer Optical Fiber for Robot Movement Assessment Based on Intensity Variation
by Jianwei Shi, Abdul Ghaffar, Yongwei Li, Irfan Mehdi, Rehan Mehdi, Fayaz A. Soomro, Sadam Hussain, Mujahid Mehdi, Qiang Li and Zhiqiang Li
Polymers 2022, 14(23), 5167; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14235167 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1893
Abstract
A complex signal processing technique is usually required to process the data in most sensor design structures, and integration into real applications is also challenging. This work presents a dynamic rotational sensor using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) fiber for robot movement assessment. The sensor [...] Read more.
A complex signal processing technique is usually required to process the data in most sensor design structures, and integration into real applications is also challenging. This work presents a dynamic rotational sensor using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) fiber for robot movement assessment. The sensor design structure is based on the coupling of light intensity, in which two PMMA fibers are twisted together. Both fibers are bent after twisting and attached on the linear translation stage, which is further attached to the robot. The variation in bending radius causes the bending loss, and that loss is coupled in the second fiber. The change in the macro-bend radius corresponds to the rotation of the robot. Experimental results indicate that the sensor can operate in full rotational cycle (i.e., 0°–360°) as well as for clock and anti-clockwise rotation. Moreover, different rotational speeds (2°/s, 3°/s, 5°/s, and 10°/s) were carried out. The hysteresis loss of the sensor was about 0.77% and the sensitivity was 8.69 nW/°. The presented dynamic rotational sensor is cost-effective and easily integrated into the robot structure to analyze the robot’s circular motion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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6 pages, 1013 KiB  
Communication
Calculation of Bandwidth of Multimode Step-Index Polymer Photonic Crystal Fibers
by Branko Drljača, Svetislav Savović, Milan S. Kovačević, Ana Simović, Ljubica Kuzmanović, Alexandar Djordjevich and Rui Min
Polymers 2021, 13(23), 4218; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13234218 - 1 Dec 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1900
Abstract
By solving the time-dependent power flow equation, we present a novel approach for evaluating the bandwidth in a multimode step-index polymer photonic crystal fiber (SI PPCF) with a solid core. The bandwidth of such fiber is determined for various layouts of air holes [...] Read more.
By solving the time-dependent power flow equation, we present a novel approach for evaluating the bandwidth in a multimode step-index polymer photonic crystal fiber (SI PPCF) with a solid core. The bandwidth of such fiber is determined for various layouts of air holes and widths of Gaussian launch beam distribution. We found that the lower the NA of SI PPCF, the larger the bandwidth. The smaller launch beam leads to a higher bandwidth for short fibers. The influence of the width of the launch beam distribution on bandwidth lessens as the fiber length increases. The bandwidth tends to its launch independent value at a particular fiber length. This length denotes the onset of the steady state distribution (SSD). This information is useful for multimode SI PPCF applications in telecommunications and optical fiber sensing applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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8 pages, 1236 KiB  
Communication
Theoretical Investigation of the Influence of Wavelength on the Bandwidth in Multimode W-Type Plastic Optical Fibers with Graded-Index Core Distribution
by Ana Simović, Svetislav Savović, Branko Drljača, Alexandar Djordjevich and Rui Min
Polymers 2021, 13(22), 3973; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13223973 - 17 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3274
Abstract
The bandwidth of multimode W-type plastic optical fibers (POFs) with graded-index (GI) core distribution is investigated by solving the time-dependent power flow equation. The multimode W-type GI POF is designed from a multimode single-clad (SC) GI POF fiber upon modification of the cladding [...] Read more.
The bandwidth of multimode W-type plastic optical fibers (POFs) with graded-index (GI) core distribution is investigated by solving the time-dependent power flow equation. The multimode W-type GI POF is designed from a multimode single-clad (SC) GI POF fiber upon modification of the cladding layer of the latter. Results show how the bandwidth in W-type GI POFs can be enhanced by increasing the wavelength for different widths of the intermediate layer and refractive indices of the outer cladding. These fibers are characterized according to their apparent efficiency to reduce modal dispersion and increase bandwidth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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10 pages, 2877 KiB  
Communication
Distributed Humidity Sensing in Concrete Based on Polymer Optical Fiber
by Xin Lu, Konstantin Hicke, Mathias Breithaupt and Christoph Strangfeld
Polymers 2021, 13(21), 3755; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13213755 - 29 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1820
Abstract
We present a preliminary investigation on distributed humidity monitoring during the drying process of concrete based on an embedded polymer optical fiber (POF). The water dissipated into the POF changes several properties of the fiber such as refractive index, scattering coefficient and attenuation [...] Read more.
We present a preliminary investigation on distributed humidity monitoring during the drying process of concrete based on an embedded polymer optical fiber (POF). The water dissipated into the POF changes several properties of the fiber such as refractive index, scattering coefficient and attenuation factor, which eventually alters the Rayleigh backscattered light. The optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) technique is performed to acquire the backscattered signal at the wavelengths 650 nm and 500 nm, respectively. Experimental results show that the received signal increases at 650 nm while the fiber attenuation factor clearly increases at 500 nm, as the concrete dries out. In the hygroscopic range, the information retrieved from the signal change at 650 nm agrees well with the measurement result of the electrical humidity sensors also embedded in the concrete sample. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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13 pages, 1667 KiB  
Article
Experimental Assessment of the Transmission Performance of Step Index Polymer Optical Fibers Using a Green Laser Diode
by María Ángeles Losada, María Mazo, Alicia López, Candela Muzás and Javier Mateo
Polymers 2021, 13(19), 3397; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13193397 - 2 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3891
Abstract
Large-core polymer optical fiber (POF) links have limitations in capacity and reach due to the fibers’ high modal dispersion and attenuation. Most of these links use red laser diodes, even though the attenuation spectrum of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), the basic polymer used to [...] Read more.
Large-core polymer optical fiber (POF) links have limitations in capacity and reach due to the fibers’ high modal dispersion and attenuation. Most of these links use red laser diodes, even though the attenuation spectrum of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), the basic polymer used to manufacture these fibers, has a lower minimum in the green region. Therefore, we set out to explore the potential use of green light in transmission systems, comparing the performances of three step-index polymer optical fibers (SI-POFs) with different numerical apertures. We obtained measurements of intensity distribution, frequency response and bit error rate (BER), as functions of fiber length. We have also compared the fibers’ frequency responses with red and green light for a few selected lengths. Our results confirm that SI-POFs attenuate less in response to green light, which can increase their length. This advantage is partially counterbalanced by a slightly higher dispersion that limits the capacity of the high-aperture fibers, particularly at relatively short lengths. Our conclusions are critical to understanding SI-POF behavior and to designing thorough SI-POF models that can aid the design of POF-based links for different scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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Review

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24 pages, 9939 KiB  
Review
Recent Achievements on Grating Fabrications in Polymer Optical Fibers with Photosensitive Dopants: A Review
by Jie Jiang, Nan Zhang, Rui Min, Xin Cheng, Hang Qu and Xuehao Hu
Polymers 2022, 14(2), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14020273 - 10 Jan 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3074
Abstract
This review discusses recent achievements on grating fabrications in polymer optical fibers doped with photosensitive materials. First, different photosensitive dopants in polymer optical fibers (POFs) are summarized, and their refractive index change mechanisms are discussed. Then, several different doping methods to fabricate the [...] Read more.
This review discusses recent achievements on grating fabrications in polymer optical fibers doped with photosensitive materials. First, different photosensitive dopants in polymer optical fibers (POFs) are summarized, and their refractive index change mechanisms are discussed. Then, several different doping methods to fabricate the photosensitive POFs are presented. Following that, the principles of gratings, including standard fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs), chirped fiber Bragg gratings (CFBGs), phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings (PSFBGs), and long period fiber gratings (LPFGs), are reported. Finally, fabrications of different gratings based on photosensitive POFs in the last 20 years are reported. We present our article clearly and logically, so that it will be helpful for researchers to explore a broad perspective on this proposed topic. Overall, the content provides a comprehensive overview of photosensitive POF fabrications and grating inscriptions in photosensitive POFs, including previous breakthroughs and recent advancements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Optical Fibers: Recent Developments and Applications)
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