Thermally drawn multimaterial fibers have experienced rapid development in the past two decades owing to the high scalability, uniformity, and material and structure compatibility of the thermal drawing technique. This article reviews various multimaterial fibers based on different functional structures and their applications in disparate fields. We start from the functional structures achieved in optical fibers developed in the early stage of thermally drawn fibers. Subsequently, we introduce both typical functional structures and unique structures created in multimaterial fibers for varying applications. Next, we present the early attempts in breaking the axial symmetric structures of thermally drawn fibers for extended functionalities. Additionally, we summarize the current progress on creating surface structures on thermally drawn fibers. Finally, we provide an outlook for this trending topic towards wearable devices and smart textiles.

Zhe Wang

Mengxiao Chen

Yu Zheng

Jing Zhang

Zhixun Wang

Jiao Yang

Qichong Zhang

Bing He

Miao Qi

Haozhe Zhang

Kaiwei Li

Lei Wei

Advanced Thermally Drawn Multimaterial Fibers: Structure-Enabled Functionalities

Recently, Rayleigh scattering-based distributed fiber sensors have been widely used for measurement of static and dynamic phenomena such as temperature change, dynamic strain, and sound waves. In this review paper, several sensing systems including traditional Rayleigh optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR), <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" id="M1" style="vertical-align:-0.04981995pt" height="8.3338pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.28398 9.6623 8.3338" width="9.6623pt">


<g transform="matrix(.0125,0,0,-0.0125,0,0)"><path d="M432 580C432 621 448 643 535 643V662H229V643C315 643 330 625 330 580V560C188 560 35 496 35 330C35 199 125 103 313 103H330V85C330 34 295 19 229 19V0H535V19C464 23 432 32 432 86V103H457C567 103 728 172 728 330C728 496 571 560 432 560V580ZM430 523C559 523 619 415 619 318C619 205 523 140 430 140V523ZM332 140C211 140 144 224 144 318C144 416 221 523 332 523V140Z"/></g>

</svg>-OTDR, chirped pulse <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" id="M2" style="vertical-align:-0.04981995pt" height="8.3338pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.28398 9.6623 8.3338" width="9.6623pt">


<g transform="matrix(.0125,0,0,-0.0125,0,0)"><path d="M432 580C432 621 448 643 535 643V662H229V643C315 643 330 625 330 580V560C188 560 35 496 35 330C35 199 125 103 313 103H330V85C330 34 295 19 229 19V0H535V19C464 23 432 32 432 86V103H457C567 103 728 172 728 330C728 496 571 560 432 560V580ZM430 523C559 523 619 415 619 318C619 205 523 140 430 140V523ZM332 140C211 140 144 224 144 318C144 416 221 523 332 523V140Z"/></g>

</svg>-OTDR, and optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) are introduced for their working principles and recent progress with different instrumentations for various applications. Beyond the sensing technology and instrumentation, we also discuss new types of fiber sensors, such as ultraweak fiber Bragg gratings and random fiber gratings for distributed sensing and their interrogators. Ultimately, the limitations of Rayleigh-based distributed sensing systems are discussed.

Xiaoyi Bao

Yuan Wang

Recent Advancements in Rayleigh Scattering-Based Distributed Fiber Sensors

About this journal

<p>The open access journal <em>Advanced Devices &amp; Instrumentation</em>, published in association with BIACD, is a forum to promote breakthroughs and application advances at all levels of electronics and photonics.</p>


Journal profile

Meet the editorial board

<p><em>Advanced Devices &amp; Instrumentation’s</em>&nbsp;editorial board is led by Wei Wang (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) and&nbsp;Daping Chu (University of Cambridge) and is comprised of experts who have made significant and well recognized contributions to the field.</p>


Editorial board

More special issue details

<p><em>Advanced Devices &amp; Instrumentation</em> is now accepting submissions for its first special issue: <a href="https://spj.sciencemag.org/adi-special-issues/metasurfaces/">Metasurface-Based Devices</a></p>


Table of Contents

Table of Contents: 2021

Advanced Thermally Drawn Multimaterial Fibers: Structure-Enabled Functionalities

Recent Advancements in Rayleigh Scattering-Based Distributed Fiber Sensors