Specialty Optical Fibres
The optical fibre manufacturing facilities at the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), at The University of Adelaide comprise state-of-the-art fabrication equipment, know-how and capability. This facility in Adelaide forms part of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF). The ANFF is a seven-Node facility, with Nodes distributed throughout Australia, drawing on existing infrastructure and expertise. The OptoFab Node brings together three leading microfabrication groups in NSW, Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, and the Bandwidth Foundry. In February 2009, IPAS joined OptoFab, thus enhancing the optical fibre fabrication capabilities available within the Node.
IPAS has a rare combination of glass science, fibre fabrication, research facilities and expertise. This has enabled the realisation of fibres with unique and novel properties. With expertise spanning the full spectrum of glass materials from silica to soft glasses, in combination with a new silica fibre fabrication facility soon to come on-line, will further enable the internationally leading team in glass extrusion at IPAS to build upon their achievements to date which includes the production of glass fibres with the broadest range of structures, unmatched anywhere else in the world. Additionally, the team has demonstrated its capacity to produce record breaking fibres, which have included the world’s smallest core fibres, fibres with extreme nonlinearity, and the world’s smallest hole in a fibre.
