Specialty optical fibers have been a topic of great commercial interest over the last 5-10 years. New classes of speciality optical fibres have demonstrated the potential to extend the impact of optical fibres well beyond the telecommunications arena, in areas as diverse as defence, industrial processing, marine engineering, biomedicine, DNA processing and astronomy. They are making an impact and commercial inroads in fields such as industrial sensing, bio-medical laser delivery systems, military gyro sensors, as well as automotive lighting and control-to name just a few-and span applications as diverse as oil well downhole pressure sensors to intra-aortic catheters, to high power lasers that can cut and weld steel.

The Specialty optical fibers market report provides an in depth look at this potentially incredibly important and lucrative market. Specialty optical fibers is a relatively new market with many manufacturers focusing on niche applications out with the telecommunications sector, where entrenched fiber technologies still dominate to a certain extent. The market has yet to mature and find widespread adoption in products, but will impact the telecommunications sector increasingly over the next 5 years as well as the oil and gas, medical and aerospace and defense industries.

Contents include:

• Global market structure, trends and drivers
  
  
• Global market revenue 2005, 2008, forecasted to 2013
  
  
• Market for preforms and fiber types
  
  
• Key applications
  
  
• Main application markets
  
  
• Analysis of fabrication methods

Fiber types covered include:

• ERBIUM AND RARE-EARTH DOPED FIBERS
  
  
• PHOTOSENSITIVE FIBERS
  
  
• POLARIZATION MAINTAINING FIBERS
  
  
• PHOTONIC CRYSTAL FIBERS
  
  
• LARGE-MODE-AREA (LMA) DOPED DOUBLE CLAD FIBER LASERS
  
  
• METAL COATED FIBERS
  
  
• POLYMIDE COATED SILICA/SILICA FIBERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION

2 THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR SPECIALITY OPTICAL FIBERS

2.1 MARKET STRUCTURE

2.2 MARKET TRENDS AND DRIVERS

2.3 PREFORMS

2.3.1 Suppliers

2.4 FABRICATION METHODS

2.4.1 Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD)

2.4.2 Outside vapor deposition (OVD)

2.4.3 Vapor axial deposition (VAD)

2.4.4 Plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD)

2.4.5 Plasma outside deposition (POD)

2.4.6 Direct nanoparticle deposition (DND)

3 FIBER TYPES: APPLICATIONS, MARKETS AND CHALLENGES

3.1 ERBIUM AND RARE-EARTH DOPED FIBERS

3.2 PHOTOSENSITIVE FIBERS

3.3 POLARIZATION MAINTAINING FIBERS

3.4 PHOTONIC CRYSTAL FIBERS

3.5 LARGE-MODE-AREA (LMA) DOPED DOUBLE CLAD FIBER LASERS

3.6 METAL COATED FIBERS

3.7 POLYMIDE COATED SILICA/SILICA FIBERS

4 FIBER MANUFACTURERS