New Generation of Optical Fibers for High-Power Laser Delivery

With funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a joint research project between the UK's Heriot-Watt University and The University of Bath is investigating novel fiber optics for high-power applications. The novel fiber the team has developed is based on a hollow core design - meaning light is guided in air rather than glass - so that the fiber has a much higher power capacity, extended spectral transparency, 100,000 times lower nonlinearity, and near zero dispersion. Applications include next-generation surgical instrumentation, transmission of ultra-fast high-power pulses, gas detection, a portable laser cutting tool, and materials processing.