Metallic-glass coated optical fibres

摘要

An optical fibre is provided with a coating by coating the fibre (1) with a coating material (4) on-line with the fibre drawing process (2) and employing a laser beam (6) to locally heat the coating material whereby to change its physical or chemical properties. Metallic glass coated fibres, useful for hermeticity and sensor applications, can thus be achieved in multikilometer lengths by fusing metallic glass forming alloy coatings to a fibre. Alternatively, polymer coatings may be cured by laser beam local heating.