AGILTRON, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: N08-115

Description

Agiltron proposes to produce a new class of multimode fiber that is more durable and bendable yet less cost to replace the current mil-spec qualified fibers used in aerospace. Our approach is a combination of an advanced trench index cladding fiber design that prevents light leaking-out in tight-bend and ruggedized multi-layer carbon/polyimide coatings that is most effective against harsh environment. This new fiber has salient attributes that is 100 times lower in bending loss than current fibers, little distortion to Gigabit Ethernet Standard data transmission, can be spliced and butt connected to conventional fibers with little loss, can withstand extreme fatigue and stress corrosion factor, and is amendable to mass production. In the Phase-I program, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility by producing several runes of prototype fiber samples with drastically reduced bending loss as well as little transmission loss. In this Phase II program, we will further optimize the fiber cladding profile, protection coatings, and production process to reach pre-production level. Moreover, we will perform all the reliability and durability tests per aerospace and mil-spec standards. Fully qualified fiber samples will be delivered to the Navy for field test and evaluation.