Abstract:
The invention provides techniques for drawing fibers that include conducting, semiconducting, and insulating materials in intimate contact and prescribed geometries. The resulting fiber exhibits engineered electrical and optical functionalities along extended fiber lengths. The invention provides corresponding processes for producing such fibers, including assembling a fiber preform of a plurality of distinct materials, e.g., of conducting, semiconducting, and insulating materials, and drawing the preform into a fiber.
Abstract:
A process and system for controllable production of continuous lengths of microwire having a core covered by a glass coating are provided. According to the method of the invention, a glass tubing is loaded with a core material. Thereafter, the process includes the step of heating the tubing containing the core material for melting thereof, softening a tip of the glass tubing and forming a drop of the core material in the molten state surrounded by an outer glass shell. During the process, the gas is evacuated from the glass tubing in order to control elevation of the drop. The method includes drawing the heated outer glass shell into a continuous microwire filament and stabilizing the temperature and mass of the drop during the process. Accordingly, the system includes a suitable glass feeder mechanism, a rod feeder mechanism, a furnace configured for forming a drop of the core material in the molten state surrounded by an outer glass shell, controllable vacuum and cooling devices and a receiver section for receiving the microwire obtained after the cooling. The system also includes a controller and sensing means configured for producing signals representative of the gas pressure in the tubing, temperature temperature of the drop, the speed of the microwire, the value of the microwire diameter, the value of the spool diameter and other relevant parameters.
Abstract:
A reflective display is formed using two orthogonal fiber arrays and an electro-optic material. The bottom fibers contain plasma channels, used to address the electro-optic material. Wire electrodes built into the fibers address both the plasma and the electro-optic material. The fibers are composed of glass, plastic or a combination of glass and plastic. Color is imparted into the display using colored fibers, adding a color coating to the surface of the fibers, or adding the color to the electro-optic material. The electro-optic material consists of a liquid crystal material, electrophoretic material, bichromal sphere material, electrochromic material, or any electro-optic material that can serve to create a reflective display. Another possible reflective display is formed using an array of hollow tubes filled with an electrophoretic material sandwiched between two plates.
Abstract:
A fiber-based display includes orthogonal arrays of fiber with co-drawn wire electrodes placed between two plates to form an information display. One of the key concepts of the invention is that all structure of each row and column of a display panel is contained within each fiber of both arrays. Therefore, the entire functionality of the display is contained within each fiber of the display. Containing the structure of the display within the fibers not only eliminates multi-level alignment process steps, but allows for the fabrication of very large flat panel displays. The fiber arrays are formed by drawing fiber from a preform onto a cylindrical drum and then removing them from the drum as a sheet of fibers. The fiber arrays are assembled between the plates before a seal is applied. Tight control of the fiber shape and cross-section is obtained using a lost glass or polymer process. The cross-sectional shape of the fibers in the fiber arrays are suitable for use in a flat panel display, such as plasma emissive displays, plasma addressed liquid crystal displays, field emission displays, reflective displays, three-dimensional and multiple view displays.
Abstract:
Air core optical fiber structures in which the cladding is composed of an engineered optical metamaterial having a refractive index less than unity for at least one specific wavelength band and provides for total internal reflection of optical energy between the air core and metamaterial cladding. According to certain examples, a method of guiding optical energy includes constructing a hollow core optical fiber with an all-dielectric optical metamaterial cladding, coupling optical energy into the optical fiber having an operating wavelength near a resonance of the metamaterial cladding, and guiding the optical energy within the hollow core optical fiber by total internal reflection. A method of manufacturing the optical fiber is disclosed, based on constructing a first fiber preform comprising glass rods of a first refractive index arranged in a lattice pattern interspersed with a glass substrate having a second refractive index, drawing this first preform to produce a first optical fiber and then dividing the first optical fiber into segments which are arranged to construct a second preform, which is then drawn to produce the hollow core fiber with metamaterial cladding.
Abstract:
An optogenetic probe, an optogenetic system, and a method for fabricating an optogenetic probe are provided. The optogenetic probe has a proximal and a distal end, and includes an elongated body made of a body glass material and extending longitudinally between the proximal and distal ends. The optogenetic probe also includes at least one optical channel, each including an optical channel glass material having a refractive index larger than a refractive index of the body glass material, so as to guide light therealong. The optogenetic probes also includes at least one electrical channel, each including an electrical channel structure having an electrical conductivity larger than the electrical conductivity of the body glass material, so as to conduct electricity therealong. The optogenetic probe further includes at least one fluidic channel, each adapted for transporting fluid therealong. Each optical, electrical and fluidic channel extends longitudinally within the elongated body.
Abstract:
An apparatus for producing a glass-coated wire, the apparatus comprising at least one heating device adapted to, independently, heat a core material to a melting temperature thereof and heat a glass material to a drawing temperature thereof.
Abstract:
The invention discloses a static support bed (SSB) for purification, separation, detection, modification, and/or immobilization of target chemical entities or target biological entities present in a fluid. The static support bed of the present invention comprises one or more microwire supports suitable for the attachment of target chemical entities or target biological entities.
Abstract:
An optical fibre comprises a core region (20) and a cladding region (30), characterised in that the fibre includes a metallic or semiconducting region (40) in the core region (20) or the cladding region (30). The metallic or semiconducting regions may be embedded in an insulating matrix material (50). For example, the core region may comprise a semiconductor region that provides gain or a semiconductor region that is a saturable absorber. The fibre may be a photonic crystal fibre (PCF) (10). For example, inclusion of metallic or semiconducting regions 40 in a cladding region (30) of a PCF (10) may provide a more robust photonic band gap.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a field emission display constructed using an array of fibers (15) and an orthogonal array of emitter electrodes (40). Each fiber (15) in the fiber array contains an extraction electrode (10), a high voltage electrode (20) and a phosphor layer (30). The array of emitter electrodes consists of carbon nanotube emitters attached to conductive electrodes (40). The emitter electrodes (40) are separated using non-conductive fibers (50). A getter material in the form of a wire (55) is placed within the array of emitter electrodes (40) to maintain a high vacuum within the display.