Hollow-core antiresonant terahertz fiber-based TOPAS extruded from a 3D printer using a metal 3D printed nozzle
Wanvisa Talataisong, Jon Gorecki, Lieke Dorine van Putten, Rand Ismaeel, James Williamson, Katie Addinall, Daniel Schwendemann, Martynas Beresna, Vasilis Apostolopoulos, Gilberto Brambilla
Abstract
We report the use of a terahertz (THz) transparent material, cyclic olefin copolymer (COC or TOPAS), for fabricating a hollow-core antiresonant fiber that provides an electromagnetic wave guidance in the THz regime. A novel fabrication technique to realize a hollow-core antiresonant polymer optical fiber (HC-ARPF) for THz guidance is proposed and demonstrated. The fiber is directly extruded in a single-step procedure using a conventional fused deposition modeling 3D printer. The fiber geometry is defined by a structured nozzle manufactured with a metal 3D printer, which allows tailoring of the nozzle design to the various geometries of microstructured optical fibers. The possibility to use the HC-ARPF made from TOPAS for guiding in the THz region is theoretically and experimentally assessed through the profile of mode simulation and time-frequency diagram (spectrogram) analysis.