A thermoplastic filament comprising multiple polymers of differing flow temperatures in a regular geometric arrangement, and a method for producing such a filament, are described. Because of the difference in flow temperatures, there exists a temperature range at which one polymer is mechanically stable while the other is flowable. This property is extremely useful for creating thermoplastic monofilament feedstock for three-dimensionally printed parts, wherein the mechanically stable polymer enables geometric stability while the flowable polymer can fill gaps and provide strong bonding and homogenization between deposited material lines and layers. These multimaterial filaments can be produced via thermal drawing from a thermoplastic preform, which itself can be three-dimensionally printed. Furthermore, the preform can be printed with precisely controlled and complex geometries, enabling the creation of monofilament and fiber with unique decorative or functional properties.

An optical article for illuminating building interiors including a reflective grid and a light diffusing element positioned between the reflective grid and a light source. The reflective grid includes one or more arrays of transverse reflective surfaces and is configured to partially transmit and partially redirect incident light over a broad angular range.

A method for locally introducing a light emitter or a plasmonic element into a light guide is provided. The method (300) comprising the acts of: applying (302) a printing head (100) to a surface (204) of the light guide (202, 404), the printing head (100, 200) comprising an insertion portion (102) comprising the light emitter (106) or the plasmonic element and a heating element (108), heating (304) the heating element (108) such that a portion (205) of the surface (204) of the light guide (202, 404) is locally heated, pressing (306) the printing head (100, 200) into the light guide (202, 404) such that at least a portion (208) of the insertion portion (102) is inserted into the light guide (202, 404), introducing (308) the light emitter (106) or the plasmonic element (500) into the light guide (202, 404) via the insertion portion (102). A printing head (100, 200) for locally introducing a light emitter (106) or a plasmonic element (500) into a light guide (202, 404) is also provided. A light guide (202, 404) comprising a light emitter (106) or a plasmonic element (200) introduced into the light guide (202, 404) by use of the method (300) or the printing head (100, 200) is further provided.

A micro-electrode array (1) comprising a flexible substrate (2) and a multiplicity of electrodes (3) for electrically measuring neural activity is described. The electrodes (3) are arranged on the substrate (2), project from the plane of the substrate (2) and have a core (4). A plurality of measurement lines (9) that are electrically insulated from one another are arranged around the core (4). Adjacent to the end surface (7) of the core (4), at the end of the electrodes (3) there are a plurality of electrode surfaces (8) arranged in a manner distributed spatially around the end surface (7), said electrode surfaces in each case being electrically conductively connected to an associated measurement line (9). The micro-electrode array (1) is passivated with a polymer-containing material, such as e.g. polyimide, such that only the electrodes (3) electrically contact neural tissue with their electrode surfaces (8, E1, E2).

A manufacturing system for fabricating optical waveguides includes a diffusion channel with a plurality of inlets at a first end and an outlet at a second end opposite to the first end and separated from the inlets by a channel length. Each of the plurality of inlets includes a central inlet flowing a first resin into the diffusion channel such that the first resin flows along the channel length of the diffusion channel toward the outlet, and an outer inlet flowing a second resin along a periphery of the first resin. The second resin may have an index of refraction different than the first resin. The diffusion may occur between portions of the first resin and portions of the second resin over the channel length to form a composite resin having a profile with a plurality of indices of refraction in at least one dimension.

Provided is a processing method for a multi-row, multi-column flat lens with an equivalent negative refractive index, which includes: performing photoresist coating, masking and exposure on the photolithography surface; removing photoresist in an unexposed block, and forming a rectangular groove; coating a surface of an exposed block and all surfaces of the rectangular groove with a protective layer, and then coating a side surface of the rectangular groove with a reflective film; removing the protective layer on the surface of the exposed block and the bottom surface of the rectangular groove, then filling up the groove with a filling material, and further processing the front and rear surfaces of the parallel plate in such a manner that a parallel misalignment between the front and rear surfaces thereof is smaller than 1′; and adding a protective window sheet on each of the front and rear surfaces of the new parallel plate.

The present invention relates to the technical field of optical film production, and provides a light guide film production device, including a feeding unit, a fusion stirring unit, an extrusion molding unit, a cooling shaping unit, a guide leveling unit, a flattening unit, and a finished product winding unit. The cooling shaping unit is provided with a first water tank to perform heat exchange on an extruded light guide film for heat recovery, so that edge film pressing mechanisms press pressure blocks at the edge film positions using the memory effect of a memory alloy. Circulating water of the first water tank subjected to heat exchange is delivered to a second water tank disposed in the flattening unit, so that a first conveyor belt made of the memory alloy in a third drive device drives a second rolling roller set to rotate to realize secondary utilization of recovered heat. In the present invention, an air delivery mechanism with one airflow pipe to the cooling shaping unit, and the other airflow pipe to the flattening unit is further provided. According to the present invention, the heat of the light guide film production process is used to improve the quality of the light guide film and reduce the energy consumption of the light guide film production process.

A method of preparing an overmolded optical fiber assembly comprising: (a) placing at least one flexible optical circuit in a bottom mold, said bottom mold defining a bottom overmold cavity having a bottom surface, said at least one flexible optical circuit having a substrate and a plurality of fibers adhered to said substrate, said substrate being disposed within said bottom overmold cavity to define a first space between said substrate and said bottom surface; (b) flowing a polymer in at least said first space; (c) placing a top mold over said substrate, said top mold defining a top overmold cavity and a top surface and a port defined in said top surface to access said top overmold cavity, said substrate defining a second space between said top surface and said substrate; (d) flowing a polymer in at least a portion of said second space; and (e) removing said bottom and top molds to release said overmolded optical circuit.

Embodiments relate to a polymer waveguide including a substrate, a cladding layer made of a first polymer, formed on the substrate, wherein a first monomer is polymerized into the first polymer, and the cladding layer has a groove for the waveguide by removing part of the cladding layer, and a core accommodating graphene therein, formed on the groove, a method for manufacturing the same, and a passively mode-locked laser based on the polymer waveguide.

Methods of fabricating optical devices with high refractive index materials are disclosed. The method includes forming a first oxide layer on a substrate and forming a patterned template layer with first and second trenches on the first oxide layer. A material of the patterned template layer has a first refractive index. The method further includes forming a first portion of a waveguide and a first portion of an optical coupler within the first and second trenches, respectively, forming a second portion of the waveguide and a second portion of the optical coupler on a top surface of the patterned template layer, and depositing a cladding layer on the second portions of the waveguide and optical coupler. The waveguide and the optical coupler include materials with a second refractive index that is greater than the first refractive index.