Multimaterial and Flexible Devices Made by Fiber Drawing

Abstract

The ability to co-process different materials at the same time in a thermal process opens up the possibility of scalable fabrication of volumetric multimaterial and multifunctional devices with operation spanning from the UV to the microwave. Combining optical, mechanical and electronic properties of dielectrics (such as glass and polymers) and metals enables a plethora of applications in radiation manipulation. In this presentation I will discuss the process and the challenges of fiber drawing novel materials and material combinations such as: elastic polymers, biocompatible polymers, arsenic free soft-glasses and combinations of metal-dielectric structures. After discussing the process behind the realization of the novel fibers, I will show some very diverse uses of these exotic materials. I will report on our latest results on flexible fibers in generation of orbital angular momentum, realization of tunable metamaterials and wearable sensors, and I will present some applications of fiber drawn metamaterials for THz radiation.