Wanted: Supplier of imaging polymer optical fibre

We are looking for a supplier of a length of flexible gradient index polymer, which has similar imaging properties to a SELFOC lens in glass. Note, this is not a fibre bundle. It is a single flexible fibre of about diameter 3 mm, with a gradient index core, which gives a moderately good image over the central 1.5 mm diameter area. The image quality falls off rather quickly outside this area, but this problem could be resolved by stacking a number of these fibres into a bundle. The sample we have seen, and tested, was 200 mm long, but for this application 80 mm is long enough. Unfortunately, it was at least 20 years old, and there was no record of the supplier. We have never read about this product in any of the literature, and very much doubt that it is in mass production anywhere. However, our present interest is for a research project, rather than production, so even if no supplier can be found, it would be helpful to know who to approach, and the sort of technology that might be used in the manufacture of it.

Brian Blandford Ancient and Modern Optics

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Brian Blandford
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I did a quick google search using

"plastic optical fiber" "index gradient"

for the search string and came up with about 25 hits of which a few looked useful. One hit:

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seemed to describe something similar to what you need; a plastic rod lens using self focussing.

In case the UK search gives different results here is the URL of the search results.

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