nanoFACTORY r-FBG

Fully Automated Roll-to-Roll Fiber Delivery and Collection Ultrafast FBG Manufacturing Equipment

nanoFACTORY r-FBG is a fully-automated ultrafast FBG Manufacturing Equipment with integrated rollers for automated fiber delivery, fabrication and fiber collection. It has the following features:

Fully automated continuous FBG fabrication up to km length
High precision fiber delivery and collection system
AI Vision assisted automated fiber core recognition
Built-in recipe with standard FBG parameters
Integrated independent vibration isolation system
Able to fabricate with multiple fiber types
Able to fabricate multiple grating structures
95% yield of high performance and consistency FBGs

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Fully Automated

High Yield

High Efficiency

Multiple Fiber Types Applicable

Customer Needs and Challenges

Optical sensing technology has advanced rapidly across a wide range of industries, such as power, oil and gas, chemical engineering, construction, transportation, and medtech. With this rapid growth, the demand for high-quality FBGs has surged, driving the need for higher precision and efficiency in manufacturing.

Therefore, it is urgent to:

Meet the market demand of high-performance FBG devices
Leverage the core advantages of using ultrafast laser for FBG manufacturing
Improve FBG performance, diversity, and yield
Broaden FBG applications to various fields: fiber sensing systems, optical communication systems and high-power fiber lasers, etc.

Product Performance

High Power Stability and Precise Power Control

The nanoFACTORY r-FBG system precisely controls the laser exposure time down to 0.001 ms, ensuring consistency in every grating fabrication.

Precise laser power control is critical for maintaining uniform refractive-index modulation. Any fluctuation in laser power can lead to uneven index changes within the fibre core, resulting in reduced FBG quality and performance.

To achieve consistent fabrication performance, Innofocus uses a high-stability femtosecond laser equipped with a real-time pulse power monitoring system, to maintain pulse power stability during continuous long-term operation (>100 hours) and single-pulse power fluctuations at ±1%. Therefore, laser pulse energy at each processing point (also the range of refractive index change) is controlled at the same level, ensuring stable and continuous fabrication, and establishing a solid foundation for manufacturing high performance FBG devices.

nanoFACTORY r-FBG also integrates PowerFlex, a precise power control module developed by Innofocus. PowerFlex is a fully automated laser power control technology that enables precise control of laser power at a step of 1μW.

Higher power processing produces larger grating points (Figure A), while lower power processing produces smaller grating points (Figure B). Simply adjust the system parameters tailored to your needs.

Precise Control of Consistent Periodic Structure of FBGs

Along with the strong R&D capabilities and the collaborative research on hardware, software and algorithms, Innofocus have developed the PTST (Position-Time Synchronized Trigger) module and integrated in nanoFACTORY r-FBG system for highly intelligent laser exposure control. Compared to conventional method of controlling the exposure intervals to make it constant, PTST enables accurate trigger of laser exposure at the desired positions, by precisely synchronizing the position detection and laser trigger. PTST is an effective way to ensure the intervals between each fabrication point remain consistent. As shown in the images below, PTST guarantees nanoFACTORY manufactures uniform periodic structure in every fabrication, promising device performance and yield.

Intelligent Fibre Core Recognition and Fiber Position Correction

To fully automate FBG manufacturing process, Innofocus has developed AI-assisted fiber core recognition function (patented) based on machine-vision technology. The system conducts a fully automated FBG fabrication process by identifying the position of fiber core, scanning for initial point and end point, then calculating fabrication path.

Fully Automated Roll-to-Roll Fiber Delivery and Collection up to Kilometer-length

nanoFACTORY r-FBG system integrates rollers specialized for fiber delivery and fiber collection, enabling fully automated FBG manufacturing without operator intervention, further eliminating the uncertainties in fabrication process. This function significantly enhances FBG fabrication consistency and guarantees continuous FBG manufacturing up to kilometer-length, reaching over 95% yield.

The nanoFACTORY r-FBG is equipped with a specialized precision fixture designed to ensure stable fibre positioning throughout the delivery, fabrication, and collection stages. The fixture features an integrated strain-detection and control system capable of measuring forces from 0 to 30 N with an accuracy of 0.03 N. By precisely managing the external strain applied during the writing process, the system further enhances the consistency and accuracy of FBG fabrication.

With its long-distanced single processing range of upto 5 km (positioning accuracy within 1 mm) and high intelligent, fully automated operation, nanoFACTORY r-FBG delivers outstanding results in precision, efficiency, and yield. Standing out among other FBG manufacturing equipments in the market, it is designed for meeting the industry demand for high performance , high efficiency FBG manufacturing.

Support Multiple Fiber Types and Grating Structures

The nanoFACTORY r-FBG can fabricate various types of fibers including fibers with acrylate coating and polyimide coating, multimode fibers, and multi-core fibers. It is also capable of manufacturing multiple FBG structures, such as point-by-point writing and line-by-line writing, enabling applications in a wide range of scenarios.