Heat-resistant fiber “Schwabe” began to be used in the manufacture of special products

Heat-resistant quartz optical fiber for telecommunications and information-measuring systems was developed by specialists of the scientific and production association of the Schwabe holding of the Rostec State Corporation in St. Petersburg. The new material has been registered and is already successfully used in the production of fiber-optic products for the military-industrial complex (MIC) and the space industry.

The peculiarity of the material lies in the tin coating and the presence of bismuth in its composition. Tin with bismuth additives maximally protects the structure of the optical fiber coating from destruction, providing a service life of 25 years, and also allows it to be operated in extremely low temperatures. At present, Schwabe specialists can produce optical fibers with a diameter of 125 to 1200 microns. The thickness of its tin coating is from 20 to 80 microns.

“The new development is used in the manufacture and production of fiber-optic products for special purposes for the needs of the space industry and defense industry. In addition, now we are also considering the possibility of creating an optical fiber with an even more heat-resistant protective coating in the near future in order to expand the scope of its practical application, ”said Sergey Popov, Shvabe Deputy General Director for R&D, Head of the Priority Technological Direction for Optoelectronics and Photonics Technologies .

Heat-resistant optical fiber was created by the developers of the Scientific and Production Association “State Optical Institute named after S. I. Vavilova. " Production of limited lots began in 2019, the volume amounted to more than 2500 meters.

NGO GOI them. S. I. Vavilova specializes in the development, testing and production of pilot batches of optical, laser and colored glasses, nonlinear single and polycrystals, glass ceramics and other products, including for optical instrumentation, the technique of detection and dosimetry of ionizing radiation, laser technology, medical and technical endoscopy.

Source: https://rostec.ru/