First commercial-grade optical fibres fabricated in space
Special glass rods manufactured at the 成人大片 have been drawn into over eleven km of optical fibre on the International Space Station (ISS).听
Microgravity glove box at the Flawless Photonics facility prior to being shipped to NASA鈥檚 facility. The fibre was drawn in the glove box on the ISS. Image: Flawless Photonics.
This major landmark in the development of the next generation of optical fibres for quantum communication is part of a strategic partnership between the University鈥檚 Institute for Advanced Photonics (IPAS) and Commercial Partner Flawless Photonics Inc.听
Australian Research Council, Industry Laureate Fellow, Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Deputy Director, IPAS and her ANFF-Optofab听team provided 20 special glass rods of ZBLAN, an exotic glass for ultra-low loss optical fibre. Flawless Photonics developed and built a miniature drawing tower for manufacturing optical fibre in space. This was sent into orbit on board a SpaceX rocket in Florida on 31 January and is currently installed on the ISS.听
鈥淔or a鈥痁BLAN鈥痜ibre to deliver on its potential of being the most transparent material that can be manufactured, there are two obstacles that must be overcome. First gravity causes the ZBLAN to crystallise during the drawing process, and second, the purity of the glass must be enhanced by a factor of 1000 for it to fulfil its maximum potential,鈥 said Professor Ebendorff-Heidepriem.听
Flawless Photonics worked on building a fibre drawing module that can operate in microgravity in space to overcome the first challenge, and Professor Ebendorff-Heidepriem and her team are working on the challenge of fabricating high-purity special ZBLAN glass rods to be drawn into fibre.听听
鈥淲e have a world-class facility for glass and optical fibre manufacturing at the 成人大片, making ANFF-Optofab Adelaide one of the few such places in the world able to manufacture such material.鈥澨
鈥淭his achievement follows over two years of dedicated efforts, overcoming challenges in developing, building, and testing the miniaturised fibre draw tower by Flawless Photonics.鈥澨
Rob鈥疞oughan, CEO, Founder and Chairman of Flawless Photonics said: "I am grateful to the 成人大片 and especially to Heike and her team at ANFF-Optofab for their invaluable dedication of resources; without their support and our successful collaboration, we wouldn't have achieved this historic milestone."听
Upon the return of these space-drawn fibres to Earth, Flawless Photonics and the team at IPAS will conduct various analyses and experiments to determine the properties of the space-drawn fibres relative to fibres drawn on Earth. will contribute to advance knowledge of space fibre fabrication and help to enhance the optimisation of the entire process to reach its full potential.听
Drawing over eleven kilometres of ZBLAN fibre on the ISS in just two weeks is a remarkable achievement. In comparison, previous similar efforts only managed to produce about 20 meters of fibre after a multitude of attempts. 听
The successful drawing of long continuous fibre opens possibilities for large-scale ZBLAN fibre production in space. This is particularly exciting as ZBLAN is known for its minimal signal loss, making it ideal for long-distance telecommunication applications.听
Read NASA article:听
Media Contacts:
Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem,鈥疍eputy Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) at the 成人大片, and Director of the Optofab Adelaide Hub at the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF). Mobile: +61 (0)439 336 214, Email:鈥heike.ebendorff@adelaide.edu.au听
Laurence Deziel, Marketing and Communications Officer, Optofab Adelaide Hub at the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF). 听
贰尘补颈濒:鈥痩aurence.deziel@adelaide.edu.au听