Advances in infrared and imaging fibres for astronomical instrumentation

Optical fibres have already played a huge part in ground based astronomical instrumentation, however, with the revolution in photonics currently taking place new fibre technologies and integrated optical devices are likely to have a profound impact on the way we manipulate light in the future. The Anglo Australian Observatory, along with partners at the Optical Fibre Technology Centre of the University of Sydney, is investigating some of the developing technologies as part of our Astrophotonics programme. In this paper we discuss the advances that have been made with infrared transmitting fibre, both conventional and microstructured, in particular those based on fluoride glasses. Fluoride glasses have a particularly wide transparent region from the UV through to around 7μm, whereas silica fibres, commonly used in astronomy, only transmit out to about 2μm. We discuss the impact of advances in fibre manufacture that have greatly improved the optical, chemical resistance and physical properties of the fluoride fibres. We also present some encouraging initial test results for a modern imaging fibre bundle and imaging fibre taper.