On April 18, 2019 IRflex Corporation singed this captioned SBIR Phase I project with Navy. After successfully completing the captioned Phase I, Phase I Option and Phase II project, on June 16, 2023 IRflex Corporation announces that the company was awarded NAVY SBIR Topic N191-012 Phase II Option project for Mid-Wave Infrared Polarization-Maintaining Single Mode Fiber.
Most infrared lasers are polarized. PM-fiber offers the capability of preserving the launched light polarization state as it propagates through the fiber. In conventional fibers the polarization state is not preserved due to mechanical stress, temperature induced changes, fiber fabrication imperfections, and fiber bends. Commercially available silica PM-fibers only cover the visible and near-infrared spectrum. Currently there is no commercially available PM-fiber solution for the MWIR region. The objective of this project is to develop single mode polarization-maintaining fiber (PM-fiber) that covers the Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) wavelengths from 2um – 6um for applications that require a high polarization extinction ratio at the fiber output and is able to waveguide tens of watts of optical power through the fiber.
