Ordered bundles of infrared transmitting silver halide fibers: attenuation, resolution and crosstalk in long and flexible bundles

Flexible ordered bundles of infrared transmitting silver-halide fibers were fabricated by multiple extrusions from single crystals. We have developed flexible bundles of outer diameter 1 mm and lengths up to 2 m, which included 30 to 100 individual elements and the diameters of each element were between 40 to 70 mum. The transmission losses of individual elements in the bundles were of the order of a few decibels per centimeter. The modulation transfer function of the bundles was determined and the resolution was found to be a few lines per millimeter. The crosstalk was of the order of 30%. Such thin, long, and flexible bundles would be extremely useful for fiber-optic thermal imaging in science, medicine, and industry. (C) 2002 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.