[Image above] Clemson University professor John Ballato and former graduate studentStephanie Morris(now a research scientist with Corning International) studying optical properties of a new type of optical fiber. Credit: Clemson University
Light is a $7.5 trillion industry driven largely by demand for information transmission and storage, with an estimated contribution of $19 billion from the U.S.-based photonics industry in 2014. Light plays such a central role in how we live that the United Nations declared 2015 theInternational Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.
Aninfographic by Statistica表明，联合国国际光年与通信历史上的重要点相吻合。2015年，仅使用手机的美国家庭的数量首次超过了座机的房屋数量。无线手机交易园林的趋势没有停止的迹象。
However, growing market demand for wireless service and faster transmission of more data is bumping up against the limits of the material properties of optical fibers.
“Present fiber-based communication and high energy laser systems are limited in the level of optical power that can be propagated,” says Clemson professorJohn Ballatoin the introduction of a new paper. Limitations in power scaling—pushing more light/data through a fiber—arise from optical phenomena such as stimulated Brillouin scattering, stimulated Raman scattering, transverse mode instabilities, nonlinear refractive index, and other phenomena related to wave mixing.
这个“非线性”集合为光学工程师带来了问题。到目前为止，光学工程师通过操纵信号或通过在较大的横截面上分配光强度来使强度低于刺激非线性的阈值来解决这些材料限制。
但是，这些策略并未解决基于二氧化硅光纤局限性的根本原因。Ballato和他的团队正在采取不同的方法 - 搜索新材料和过程，以制造具有本质上低光学非线性的纤维。他在一份新论文中说：“材料方法可以说是更直接，更有效的途径，因为光与材料的相互作用是非线性从根本上起源的地方。”
Ballato和合作者彼得·德拉格伊利诺伊大学已经研究了这个问题已经有一段时间了。
“DoD was having issues with their fiber lasers and didn’t like how every ‘solution’ involved ever more complicated fiber designs and without any consideration of materials. So, we won a grant to attack one of the nonlinearities, then another, and then began to fully appreciate the power, beauty, and simplicity of a unified approach to dealing with everything,” Ballato writes in an email.
The paper is the first of four new papers in an open-access “trilogy” by Ballato and collaborators on their work developing a unified approach to mitigating optical nonlinearities in optical fibers. The four-article series communicates a trilogy of ideas.
第一篇论文评估非线性problem by describing thermodynamics of optical scattering. The second and third papers (part 2 of the trilogy) dive into glass science and additivity models that determine properties and nonlinearity. The fourth paper offers a path forward with examples and a materials roadmap.
在三部曲过程中，Ballato等。得出结论，基于二氧化硅的眼镜仍然是有效光学传输的最佳材料。但是，所需的组成调整与传统的CVD预制处理不兼容。取而代之的是，该团队提出了一个“熔融芯”制造过程，其中将包围着包裹玻璃的熔融核心玻璃直接拉入纤维中。由于核心在纤维制造过程中如此迅速熔融，因此使用常规方法可能会导致成分。
“The papers are, perhaps not surprisingly, somewhat provocative. For our industry friends, where transitions to new systems/methods is not feasible (or desired), we plan another paper that is more tailored to your processes. That said, the trends discussed, even taken in small increments, could still have beneficial impacts,” Ballato writes in an email.
光纤行业的巨大规模意味着变化将具有挑战性和昂贵。但是，哪种变化更有可能 - 市场将不再需要更多的数据传输，或者该行业将改变以满足市场需求？
The articles are all open-access in theInternational Journal of Applied Glass Science.
- “一种统一的材料方法来缓解光纤中的光学非线性。I.光学散射的热力学”IJAGS;doi：10.1111/ijag.12327。
- “一种统一的材料方法来缓解光纤中的光学非线性。ii。A. Material Additivity Models and Basic Glass Properties，”IJAGS;doi：10.1111/ijag.12328。
- “一种统一的材料方法来缓解光纤中的光学非线性。ii。B.光纤，材料添加性和非线性系数，”IJAGS;doi：10.1111/ijag.12329。
- “一种统一的材料方法来缓解光纤中的光学非线性。III. Canonical Examples and Materials Roadmap，”IJAGS;doi：10.1111/ijag.12336。
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