Space Fibers Produced on ISS for Quantum Communication
Five spools of ZBLAN optical fibers from Flawless Photonics have made their way to the University of Adelaide from industry partner Flawless Photonics. Produced in microgravity on board the International Space Station (ISS), the fibers will now undergo in-depth analysis to assess performance and their potential impact on quantum comms.
The glass rods of ZBLAN, an exotic glass for ultra-low loss optical fiber, were supplied by the ANFF-Optofab team at the University of Adelaide. Because of its low-loss properties,
ZBLAN is ideal for high-bandwidth, long-distance telecommunication applications. Given that experts expect the internet backbone to remain cable-based, ZBLAN fiber may be a promising alternative to current silica-based telecommunication cables for faster data transfer and higher-capacity internet connections.
ZBLAN faces two obstacles. Gravity causes the ZBLAN to crystallize during the fiber drawing process, and the purity of the glass must be enhanced by a factor of 1000 for it to fulfill its maximum potential. In response, Flawless Photonics engineered a compact fiber-drawing device specifically for use in space, which was launched aboard a SpaceX resupply mission in January, and fibers were drawn on board the ISS in March.
Microgravity eliminates crystallization, removing one of the challenges. NASA Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli successfully installed and operated the fiber-drawing module, which transformed ZBLAN glass rods into fibers. The first historic milestone of the collaboration was the creation of over 11 kilometers of ZBLAN optical fiber, a world record for space-based optical fiber production. Hundreds of meters of space fibers were sent to Adelaide for a thorough examination by the team.
So far, seven of the draws have gone beyond 700 meters, demonstrating that it is possible to produce commercial lengths of fiber in space, and the longest draw exceeded 1141 meters, setting a record for the longest fiber manufactured in space.
The combined expertise of Flawless Photonics in space-based manufacturing and of the University of Adelaide in glass science and fiber fabrication is driving significant progress in telecommunications technology.
