AUTHORS:

Mrózek M., Pysz D., Kasztelanic R., Wojciechowski A., and Buczyński R.

ABSTRACT:

The development of multimodal diagnostic techniques requires advanced tools for in vivoimaging. This paper presents the design, fabrication, and optical characterization of a broadband multicore optical fiber, adapted to operate in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength ranges. A fiber structure comprising more than 13,000 cores within a 400 μm-diameter cross-section  was fabricated from multicomponent glasses using the stack-and-draw technique. Based on measurements and analytical calculations, the fiber's numerical aperture (NA) was determined to be 0.53. Its transmission properties were characterized in the 400−1100 nm spectral range. The experimental results reveal a high image transmittance of up to 74.5% and an average attenuation of 1.40 dB, demonstrating the potential of this structure for ultra-thin fluorescent and coherent endoscopes.

Photonics Letters of Poland, 2026, vol. 18(2), pp. 26-28, doi: 10.4302/plp.v18i2.1388