Fused silica microstructured optical fibers made from 3D printed nanocomposite resin

In recent years, additive manufacturing has witnessed remarkable advancements, revolutionizing traditional manufacturing processes. Additive manufacturing has recently also moved into the field of glass processing using photopolymer-based resin containing fused silica nanoparticles. The optical losses of silica parts made from such nanocomposites were previously only quantified in sample lengths ⪅1 cm. Here, we significantly increase the accuracy of the optical loss measurement by fabricating optical fibers several meters long. The fibers were designed to consist of a silica core surrounded by a ring of six air-holes. The cores were either 3D-printed or cast from a fused silica nanocomposite. The materials used in this work are photocurable fused silica nanocomposites which can be either cast or processed with a DLP 3D-printer, and then cured by a UV-light source. Vitrification of the manufactured parts is achieved by subsequent debinding and vacuum sintering. The spectral loss was measured and compared with a fiber made entirely from ultra-high purity synthetic fused silica glass (Heraeus F300). We demonstrate that the fibers made using the nanocomposite show a loss below 4 dB/m in the whole Vis-NIR region (400-1700 nm), except for an OH-related peak at 1380 nm.