Hollow-Core Antiresonant Terahertz Fiber-Based Topas Extruded From A 3d Printer Using A Metal 3d Printed Nozzle

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 micro-structured 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. (C) 2021 Chinese Laser Press