Silicon optical fibres–past, present, and future

Abstract

This paper reviews the past, present and prospective future of silicon optical fibres. The incorporation of silicon with its rich optoelectronic functionality into existing glass fibre technologies presents a route to controlling and manipulating the transmitted light in an unprecedented manner–opening the door to new and wide-ranging applications. Currently, there are two main fabrication approaches to producing these fibres–one involving chemical deposition inside glass capillary templates and the other a more traditional drawing tower technique starting from a rod-in-tube preform–each of which offers different advantages in terms of the material, geometry and waveguiding properties. As 2016 represents the 10th anniversary of the first silicon optical fibre, it is timely to evaluate and speculate on the future of this technology–in all its forms.