WO2006025686A1 - Optical fiber with square cross section and mirror coating core structure - Google Patents

Optical fiber with square cross section and mirror coating core structure Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2006025686A1
WO2006025686A1 PCT/KR2005/002869 KR2005002869W WO2006025686A1 WO 2006025686 A1 WO2006025686 A1 WO 2006025686A1 KR 2005002869 W KR2005002869 W KR 2005002869W WO 2006025686 A1 WO2006025686 A1 WO 2006025686A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
optical fiber
core
external surface
plated
metal
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2005/002869
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Ik Joo Lee
Original Assignee
Ik Joo Lee
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ik Joo Lee filed Critical Ik Joo Lee
Publication of WO2006025686A1 publication Critical patent/WO2006025686A1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/04—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings formed by bundles of fibres
    • G02B6/06—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings formed by bundles of fibres the relative position of the fibres being the same at both ends, e.g. for transporting images
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
    • C03C—CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
    • C03C17/00—Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by coating
    • C03C17/06—Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by coating with metals
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/02—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/10—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type
    • G02B6/12—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings of the optical waveguide type of the integrated circuit kind
    • G02B2006/12083—Constructional arrangements
    • G02B2006/12104—Mirror; Reflectors or the like

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an optical fiber for use in an image display device for allowing image information projected into an end of an optical finer bundle to be displayed on a surface of a display panel through the optical fiber bundle serving as an optical transfer medium, and more particularly, to an optical fiber for use in an image display device wherein the optical fiber is formed of only a core layer directly transferring image information to minimize the loss of image information that may occur when the optical fiber bundle is used to configure a display screen, an external surface of the core is plated with a mirror coating made of silver, mercury, aluminum, nickel or the like such that total reflection can be produced within the optical fiber, and the shape of the optical fiber is modified from a circular cross section into a rectangular cross section.
  • an optical fiber is composed of a core and a clad.
  • Optical information projected into a plane of incidence of an optical fiber propagates through the core by means of a principle of light confinement of an optical fiber and the projected image information is outputted at an exit plane of the optical fiber.
  • an output shape depends on a shape of the exit plane of the optical fiber.
  • an area ratio of a core directly transferring image information and a clad allowing total reflection of the image information to be produced in the core can be substantially set to 1:8.
  • the loss of image information should be inevitable when the display screen is configured using an optical fiber bundle. That is, according to a conventional optical fiber structure, a ratio of an area of the core serving to transfer the image information directly through the optical fiber to a total area of the optical fiber is not large. Therefore, this results in the loss of image information.
  • the conventional optical fiber 10 or 20 is circular in cross section, a shape of an exit plane of the optical fiber may be modified into a circle, ellipse or the like depending on the methods of cutting the exit plane of the optical fiber.
  • the optical fiber cannot generally overcome the restriction in the circular structure of the optical fiber. That is, even though it is machined through any methods, the con ⁇ ventional optical fiber should have a space 30 defined between adjacent optical fibers, as shown in Fig. 1, when the display screen is configured using the optical fiber bundle including a plurality of optical fibers. This also becomes a factor that causes the loss of image information in the display screen.
  • the conventional optical fiber uses a total reflection function due to a difference in refractive indices of the core and clad. Therefore, there is a problem in that the image information merely penetrates without occurring the total reflection at an angle of incidence more than a certain angle. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
  • a main object of the present invention is to improve an optical fiber structure to allow the loss of image information to be minimized when a display screen is configured using a plurality of optical fiber bundles.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber capable of solving a problem of the conventional optical fiber with a circular cross section, i.e. the occurrence of unnecessary space defined between adjacent optical fibers, by modifying the cross section of the optical fiber into a rectangular cross section.
  • a further object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber capable of eliminating the loss of image information corresponding to an area of a clad portion and solving a problem of the conventional optical fiber, i.e.
  • the restriction in an angle of incidence, through a mirror function by fabricating an optical fiber using only a core without a clad in order to prevent the loss of image information corresponding to the area of the clad portion in the total area of the optical fiber and plating an external surface of the core with a material with high total reflectance, such as nickel, mercury, aluminum or silver, at a thickness of about several microns to several tens of microns through a chemical reaction in order to replace a total reflection function due to a difference in refractive indices of the core and clad with a total reflection function through a mirror coating.
  • a material with high total reflectance such as nickel, mercury, aluminum or silver
  • an optical fiber for use in an image display device in which image in ⁇ formation projected into one cross section of an optical fiber bundle is transferred to a surface of a display panel through the optical fiber bundle serving as an optical transfer medium and displayed on the surface of the display panel, comprising: only a core for directly transferring image information to the display panel without a clad, wherein an external surface of the core is plated with a material, such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, with high total reflectance, and the optical fiber has a polygonal cross section such that no spaces are produced generated between adjacent optical fibers when fabricating an optical fiber bundle.
  • the external surface of the core may be plated with the material such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which the material is formed into a gaseous material and then blown and deposited.
  • PVD physical vapor deposition
  • the external surface of the core may be plated with the material such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in which the material is first transferred in a gas state and then reacts chemically with the external surface of the core.
  • CVD chemical vapor deposition
  • the external surface of the core may be plated with a metal, using an electroplating in which the metal is electrodeposited on the external surface of the core by passing an electrical current through an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to electrolyze the electrolyte in a state where the core, serving as a cathode, to be plated and the metal, serving as an anode, to be electrodeposited are dipped into the electrolyte.
  • the external surface of the core may be plated with a metal, using a hot dipping in which the surface is plated with the metal by immersing the core in a bath containing the metal, withdrawing the core with molten metal solution adhering to an external surface thereof, and allowing the adhered metal to be solidified.
  • the core is plated at a thickness of about several microns to about several tens of microns.
  • the optical fiber bundle is shaped to have a square cross section.
  • an optical fiber of the present invention comprises only a core, without a clad, which directly transfers image information and of which external surface is plated with a material with high total reflectance such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel. Further, the optical fiber has a polygonal cross section such that no unnecessary space defined between adjacent optical fibers is produced when fabricating an optical fiber bundle using a plurality of optical fibers.
  • the external surface of the core is preferably plated using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is blown to and deposited thereon or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is transferred to and chemically reacts with the external surface of the core.
  • PVD physical vapor deposition
  • CVD chemical vapor deposition
  • FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber according to a prior art
  • FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber according to the present invention.
  • FIG.3 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber bundle according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
  • Fig. 2 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber according to the present invention.
  • the optical fiber of the present invention comprises only a core 50 and an external surface 60 of the core 50 is plated with a mirror coating such that optical information does not leak to the outside and is guided to an exit surface within the optical fiber using the total reflection due to a mirror effect instead of using the total reflection due to the difference in the refractive indices of the core and clad.
  • the optical fiber including the core 50 of which external surface 60 is plated with the mirror coating allows the optical information incident into the optical fiber to be transferred to the exit surface thereof by means of the a principle of light confinement since the optical information is totally reflected therein due to the mirror effect.
  • the optical fiber including the core 50 of which external surface 60 is plated with the mirror coating is formed in a square cross sectional structure rather than a circular cross section structure.
  • the reason is that the information can be prevented from being lost due to unnecessary spaces between adjacent optical fibers occurring when a display screen is configured by means of optical fiber bundles including a plurality of optical fibers.
  • a cross sectional area of the core 50 becomes most of the total cross sectional area of the optical fiber, which directly depends on the thickness t of the coating plated on the external surface 60 of the core.
  • the thickness t of the coating can be within a range of several microns to several tens of microns. Even though the thickness of the optical fiber is about 0.1 mm, the proportion of a cross sectional area of the coating to the total cross sectional area is very small, and thus, the loss of in ⁇ formation can be reduced accordingly when configuring the resultant display screen.
  • a method of plating the external surface of the core with a material with high total reflectance includes a PVD (physical vapor deposition) method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is blown to and deposited thereon or a CVD method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is transferred to and chemically reacts with the surface of the core.
  • PVD physical vapor deposition
  • a compound to be deposited is first sintered or melted and then formed into a solid material.
  • the solid material is volatilized by means of heat or electron beam and then deposited on the external surface of the core. More specifically, respective raw materials are put into an effusion cell, and the materials are formed into gaseous materials and then blown to the core through heat, laser, electron beam or the like by means of an action of opening and closing a door of the effusion cell. When the blown materials are brought into contact with the core, they are converted into a solid state and deposited on the core.
  • the PVD requires vacuum condition since the materials to be deposited should be formed into a gas state and then blown to the core.
  • the PVD method should be performed in a vacuum en ⁇ vironment in order to overcome the problems in that the gaseous materials collide against other gas molecules and thus do not reach the core or that the gaseous materials lose their own heat and thus are converted into solid materials.
  • the PVD method includes sputtering, E-beam evaporation, thermal expansion, laser molecular beam epitaxy (L-MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLS) or the like.
  • raw materials are transferred in a gas state like in the PVD method, but they are deposited on and simultaneously react chemically with the external surface of the core.
  • the CVD method requires a high temperature of more than about 1,000 0 C in order to cause such a chemical reaction.
  • the CVD method often requires low temperature according to materials to be deposited, but this low temperature is also referred to as a temperature of about 500 0 C in the CVD method.
  • the CVD method allows the raw materials to chemically react with the core and to be converted into a solid state when they are deposited on the core, rather than adhering to the external surface of the core like in the PVD method.
  • the CVD method includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) or the like.
  • an electroplating in which a desired metal is electrodeposited on a surface of a core by passing an electrical current through an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to electrolyze the electrolyte in a state where the core (serving as a cathode) to be plated and the metal (serving as an anode) to be electrodeposited are dipped into the electrolyte, or a hot dipping in which the surface of the core is plated with a desired metal by immersing the core in a bath containing the metal, withdrawing the core with molten metal solution adhering to an external surface thereof, and allowing the adhered metal to be solidified and cooled, are also employed.
  • FIG. 3 is a view showing a structure of the optical fiber bundle according to the present invention.
  • the optical fiber bundle composed only of the core comprises a plurality of square cross sectional optical fibers. Accordingly, a phenomenon in which the unnecessary spaces are formed between the adjacent optical fibers when the display screen is configured using the plurality of optical fibers can be prevented.
  • a conventional optical fiber with a circular cross section and including a core and clad can be improved and man ⁇ ufactured into a novel optical fiber with a square cross section and including a core, without a clad, of which external surface is plated with a mirror coating, as a medium for transferring light to an image display device and configuring an image display screen. Therefore, there are advantages in that the loss of information in the display screen can be minimized and the image quality of the display screen can also be markedly improved. Further, since the conventional optical fiber uses a total reflection function due to a difference in refractive indices of two materials such as core and clad, the incident angle of the optical information may be restricted. However, since the optical fiber of the present invention uses a total reflection function due to a mirror principle, there is another advantage in that the incident angle of the optical in ⁇ formation is not restricted.

Abstract

The present invention relates to an optical fiber for use in an image display device, and more particularly, to a novel optical fiber with a mirror coating core structure, wherein the cross sectional shape thereof is converted into a square. To this end, the present invention is configured in such a manner that the optical fiber is formed of only a core layer directly transferring image information to minimize the loss of image information that may occur when the optical fiber bundle is used to configure a display screen; an external surface of the core is plated with a mirror coating made of silver, mercury, aluminum, nickel or the like such that total reflection can be produced within the optical fiber, whereby the loss of image information due to the thickness of a clad layer; and the shape of the optical fiber is modified from a circular cross section into a square cross section to eliminate spaces defined between adjacent optical fibers when fabricating a display screen using the optical fiber bundle, whereby the loss of image information due to the unnecessary spaces can be minimized.

Description

Description
OPTICAL FIBER WITH SQUARE CROSS SECTION AND MIRROR COATING CORE STRUCTURE
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to an optical fiber for use in an image display device for allowing image information projected into an end of an optical finer bundle to be displayed on a surface of a display panel through the optical fiber bundle serving as an optical transfer medium, and more particularly, to an optical fiber for use in an image display device wherein the optical fiber is formed of only a core layer directly transferring image information to minimize the loss of image information that may occur when the optical fiber bundle is used to configure a display screen, an external surface of the core is plated with a mirror coating made of silver, mercury, aluminum, nickel or the like such that total reflection can be produced within the optical fiber, and the shape of the optical fiber is modified from a circular cross section into a rectangular cross section. Background Art
[2] In general, an optical fiber is composed of a core and a clad. Optical information projected into a plane of incidence of an optical fiber propagates through the core by means of a principle of light confinement of an optical fiber and the projected image information is outputted at an exit plane of the optical fiber. Here, an output shape depends on a shape of the exit plane of the optical fiber. Further, an area ratio of a core directly transferring image information and a clad allowing total reflection of the image information to be produced in the core can be substantially set to 1:8. However, since even a plastic optical fiber with a relatively larger area should have a clad portion with more than a predetermined thickness, the loss of image information should be inevitable when the display screen is configured using an optical fiber bundle. That is, according to a conventional optical fiber structure, a ratio of an area of the core serving to transfer the image information directly through the optical fiber to a total area of the optical fiber is not large. Therefore, this results in the loss of image information.
[3] Further, since the conventional optical fiber 10 or 20 is circular in cross section, a shape of an exit plane of the optical fiber may be modified into a circle, ellipse or the like depending on the methods of cutting the exit plane of the optical fiber. However, the optical fiber cannot generally overcome the restriction in the circular structure of the optical fiber. That is, even though it is machined through any methods, the con¬ ventional optical fiber should have a space 30 defined between adjacent optical fibers, as shown in Fig. 1, when the display screen is configured using the optical fiber bundle including a plurality of optical fibers. This also becomes a factor that causes the loss of image information in the display screen.
[4] Furthermore, the conventional optical fiber uses a total reflection function due to a difference in refractive indices of the core and clad. Therefore, there is a problem in that the image information merely penetrates without occurring the total reflection at an angle of incidence more than a certain angle. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
[5] The present invention is conceived to solve the problems in the prior art. A main object of the present invention is to improve an optical fiber structure to allow the loss of image information to be minimized when a display screen is configured using a plurality of optical fiber bundles. Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber capable of solving a problem of the conventional optical fiber with a circular cross section, i.e. the occurrence of unnecessary space defined between adjacent optical fibers, by modifying the cross section of the optical fiber into a rectangular cross section. A further object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber capable of eliminating the loss of image information corresponding to an area of a clad portion and solving a problem of the conventional optical fiber, i.e. the restriction in an angle of incidence, through a mirror function, by fabricating an optical fiber using only a core without a clad in order to prevent the loss of image information corresponding to the area of the clad portion in the total area of the optical fiber and plating an external surface of the core with a material with high total reflectance, such as nickel, mercury, aluminum or silver, at a thickness of about several microns to several tens of microns through a chemical reaction in order to replace a total reflection function due to a difference in refractive indices of the core and clad with a total reflection function through a mirror coating.
Technical Solution
[6] According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the objects, there is provided an optical fiber for use in an image display device in which image in¬ formation projected into one cross section of an optical fiber bundle is transferred to a surface of a display panel through the optical fiber bundle serving as an optical transfer medium and displayed on the surface of the display panel, comprising: only a core for directly transferring image information to the display panel without a clad, wherein an external surface of the core is plated with a material, such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, with high total reflectance, and the optical fiber has a polygonal cross section such that no spaces are produced generated between adjacent optical fibers when fabricating an optical fiber bundle. [7] The external surface of the core may be plated with the material such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which the material is formed into a gaseous material and then blown and deposited.
[8] The external surface of the core may be plated with the material such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in which the material is first transferred in a gas state and then reacts chemically with the external surface of the core.
[9] The external surface of the core may be plated with a metal, using an electroplating in which the metal is electrodeposited on the external surface of the core by passing an electrical current through an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to electrolyze the electrolyte in a state where the core, serving as a cathode, to be plated and the metal, serving as an anode, to be electrodeposited are dipped into the electrolyte.
[10] The external surface of the core may be plated with a metal, using a hot dipping in which the surface is plated with the metal by immersing the core in a bath containing the metal, withdrawing the core with molten metal solution adhering to an external surface thereof, and allowing the adhered metal to be solidified.
[11] Preferably, the core is plated at a thickness of about several microns to about several tens of microns.
[12] More preferably, the optical fiber bundle is shaped to have a square cross section.
[13] In order to achieve the aforementioned objects of the present invention, an optical fiber of the present invention comprises only a core, without a clad, which directly transfers image information and of which external surface is plated with a material with high total reflectance such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel. Further, the optical fiber has a polygonal cross section such that no unnecessary space defined between adjacent optical fibers is produced when fabricating an optical fiber bundle using a plurality of optical fibers.
[14] Further, the external surface of the core is preferably plated using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is blown to and deposited thereon or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is transferred to and chemically reacts with the external surface of the core. Brief Description of the Drawings
[15] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[16] Fig. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber according to a prior art;
[17] Fig. 2 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber according to the present invention; and
[18] Fig.3 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber bundle according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
[19] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[20] Fig. 2 is a view illustrating a structure of an optical fiber according to the present invention. Unlike the related art optical fiber in which optical information is totally reflected due to a difference in refractive indices of the core and clad, the optical fiber of the present invention comprises only a core 50 and an external surface 60 of the core 50 is plated with a mirror coating such that optical information does not leak to the outside and is guided to an exit surface within the optical fiber using the total reflection due to a mirror effect instead of using the total reflection due to the difference in the refractive indices of the core and clad. The optical fiber including the core 50 of which external surface 60 is plated with the mirror coating allows the optical information incident into the optical fiber to be transferred to the exit surface thereof by means of the a principle of light confinement since the optical information is totally reflected therein due to the mirror effect.
[21] At this time, the optical fiber including the core 50 of which external surface 60 is plated with the mirror coating is formed in a square cross sectional structure rather than a circular cross section structure. The reason is that the information can be prevented from being lost due to unnecessary spaces between adjacent optical fibers occurring when a display screen is configured by means of optical fiber bundles including a plurality of optical fibers. When an optical fiber is fabricated to have a square cross sectional structure, a cross sectional area of the core 50 becomes most of the total cross sectional area of the optical fiber, which directly depends on the thickness t of the coating plated on the external surface 60 of the core. The thickness t of the coating can be within a range of several microns to several tens of microns. Even though the thickness of the optical fiber is about 0.1 mm, the proportion of a cross sectional area of the coating to the total cross sectional area is very small, and thus, the loss of in¬ formation can be reduced accordingly when configuring the resultant display screen.
[22] A method of plating the external surface of the core with a material with high total reflectance includes a PVD (physical vapor deposition) method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is blown to and deposited thereon or a CVD method in which gaseous silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel is transferred to and chemically reacts with the surface of the core.
[23] In the PVD method, a compound to be deposited is first sintered or melted and then formed into a solid material. The solid material is volatilized by means of heat or electron beam and then deposited on the external surface of the core. More specifically, respective raw materials are put into an effusion cell, and the materials are formed into gaseous materials and then blown to the core through heat, laser, electron beam or the like by means of an action of opening and closing a door of the effusion cell. When the blown materials are brought into contact with the core, they are converted into a solid state and deposited on the core. The PVD requires vacuum condition since the materials to be deposited should be formed into a gas state and then blown to the core. That is, the PVD method should be performed in a vacuum en¬ vironment in order to overcome the problems in that the gaseous materials collide against other gas molecules and thus do not reach the core or that the gaseous materials lose their own heat and thus are converted into solid materials. The PVD method includes sputtering, E-beam evaporation, thermal expansion, laser molecular beam epitaxy (L-MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLS) or the like.
[24] In the CVD method, raw materials are transferred in a gas state like in the PVD method, but they are deposited on and simultaneously react chemically with the external surface of the core. In addition, the CVD method requires a high temperature of more than about 1,000 0C in order to cause such a chemical reaction. The CVD method often requires low temperature according to materials to be deposited, but this low temperature is also referred to as a temperature of about 5000C in the CVD method.
[25] In briefly, the CVD method allows the raw materials to chemically react with the core and to be converted into a solid state when they are deposited on the core, rather than adhering to the external surface of the core like in the PVD method. The CVD method includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) or the like.
[26] In addition to the above vapor deposition methods, an electroplating in which a desired metal is electrodeposited on a surface of a core by passing an electrical current through an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to electrolyze the electrolyte in a state where the core (serving as a cathode) to be plated and the metal (serving as an anode) to be electrodeposited are dipped into the electrolyte, or a hot dipping in which the surface of the core is plated with a desired metal by immersing the core in a bath containing the metal, withdrawing the core with molten metal solution adhering to an external surface thereof, and allowing the adhered metal to be solidified and cooled, are also employed.
[27] Fig. 3 is a view showing a structure of the optical fiber bundle according to the present invention.
[28] The optical fiber bundle composed only of the core comprises a plurality of square cross sectional optical fibers. Accordingly, a phenomenon in which the unnecessary spaces are formed between the adjacent optical fibers when the display screen is configured using the plurality of optical fibers can be prevented. Industrial Applicability
[29] According to the present invention so configured, a conventional optical fiber with a circular cross section and including a core and clad can be improved and man¬ ufactured into a novel optical fiber with a square cross section and including a core, without a clad, of which external surface is plated with a mirror coating, as a medium for transferring light to an image display device and configuring an image display screen. Therefore, there are advantages in that the loss of information in the display screen can be minimized and the image quality of the display screen can also be markedly improved. Further, since the conventional optical fiber uses a total reflection function due to a difference in refractive indices of two materials such as core and clad, the incident angle of the optical information may be restricted. However, since the optical fiber of the present invention uses a total reflection function due to a mirror principle, there is another advantage in that the incident angle of the optical in¬ formation is not restricted.

Claims

Claims
[1] 1. An optical fiber for use in an image display device in which image information projected into one cross section of an optical fiber bundle is transferred to a surface of a display panel through the optical fiber bundle serving as an optical transfer medium and displayed on the surface of the display panel, comprising: only a core for directly transferring image information to the display panel without a clad, wherein an external surface of the core is plated with a material, such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, with high total reflectance, and the optical fiber has a polygonal cross section such that no spaces are produced generated bet ween adjacent optical fibers when fabricating an optical fiber bundle.
[2] 2. The optical fiber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external surface of the core is plated with the material such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which the material is formed into a gaseous material and then blown and deposited.
[3] 3. The optical fiber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external surface of the core is plated with the material such as silver, mercury, aluminum or nickel, using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in which the material is first transferred in a gas state and then reacts chemically with the external surface of the core.
[4] 4. The optical fiber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external surface of the core is plated with a metal, using an electroplating in which the metal is elec- trodeposited on the external surface of the core by passing an electrical current through an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to electrolyze the electrolyte in a state where the core, serving as a cathode, to be plated and the metal, serving as an anode, to be electrodeposited are dipped into the electrolyte.
[5] 5. The optical fiber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external surface of the core is plated with a metal, using a hot dipping in which the surface is plated with the metal by immersing the core in a bath containing the metal, withdrawing the core with molten metal solution adhering to an external surface thereof, and allowing the adhered metal to be solidified.
[6] 6. The optical fiber as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the external surface of the core is plated at a thickness of about several microns to about several tens of microns.
[7] 7. The optical fiber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical fiber bundle is shaped to have a square cross section.
PCT/KR2005/002869 2004-08-30 2005-08-30 Optical fiber with square cross section and mirror coating core structure WO2006025686A1 (en)

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Cited By (3)

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WO2009095508A1 (en) 2008-01-30 2009-08-06 Sanchez Renasco Jesus Formwork for prismatic columns
WO2012115793A1 (en) * 2011-02-23 2012-08-30 Corning Incorporated Optical homogenizing elements to reduce spectral noise in hyperspectral imaging system
WO2018150867A1 (en) * 2017-02-16 2018-08-23 株式会社フジクラ Multicore fiber, and multicore fiber tape using same

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