3D printed fiber optic faceplates by custom controlled fused deposition modeling

Abstract

A 3D printing technique for manufacturing air-clad coherent fiber optic faceplates is presented. The custom G-code programming is implemented on a fused deposition modeling (FDM) desktop printer to additively draw optical fibers using high-transparency thermoplastic filaments. The 3D printed faceplate consists of 20000 fibers and achieves spatial resolution 1.78 LP/mm. Transmission loss and crosstalk are characterized and compared among the faceplates printed from four kinds of transparent filaments as well as different faceplate thicknesses. The printing temperature is verified by testing the transmission of the faceplates printed under different temperatures. Compared with the conventional stack-and-draw fabrication, the FDM 3D printing technique simplifies the fabrication procedure. The ability to draw fibers with arbitrary organization, structure and overall shape provides additional degree of freedom to opto-mechanical design. Our results indicate a promising capability of 3D printing as the manufacturing technology for fiber optical devices.

Overview of 3D-Printed Silica Glass

“…Only the following technologies have been reported for glass fabrication: SLS/SLM, FDM, SLA, DLP, TPP, and DIW, as well as SL. Among them, although FDM is mostly used to prepare glass crafts due to the characteristics of the processing technology, it cannot be widely used in the optical field [25][26][27]. While the SLS/SLM technique provides good control of the crystal structure and achieves nearly 100% material utilization [24], the processing process generates vapor bubbles, which limits the optical transparency of the glass.…”

Prospects for Additive Manufacturing in Contact Lens Devices

“…Furthermore, DLP 3D printer works at room temperature saving time and energy compared with FDM and DIW printers. [ 80 ] A complete stepwise workflow of a typical DLP 3D printer is shown in Figure . The first step is the model‐generation process using CAD.…”

“…3D printing has been studied for ophthalmic devices. [ 80,88,93,105,118,119 ] The upcoming challenge is to manufacture smart CLs with 3D printing. The advantage of 3D printing over other methods is that one can create chambers within the wall of the lenses which can be utilized for multiplexed sensing capability.…”

Low-Cost 3D Printer Drawn Optical Microfibers for Smartphone Colorimetric Detection

“…Later, inspired by this work, other colleagues demonstrated chalcogenide glass filaments of 1.75 mm diameter, fabricated from a preform of the same material which is then used to draw glassy fiber using the direct extrusion on a FDM printer [ 18 ]. The layer-by-layer deposition using FDM printer has been used to additively fabricate optics such as air-clad fiber optic faceplates [ 19 ], lenses [ 20 , 21 ], gratings [ 22 ], cuvettes [ 23 ] and many more. The 3D-printed element has been widely accepted and utilized in many sensory applications.…”