Lab on fiber technology: Adding new functionalites to optical fibers

Optical fibers technology has experienced a tremendous growth and advancement over the past several decades, not only in transmission systems for communications (where nowadays totally dominate especially at the high performances level) but also in the sensing field. For this reason, there is an ever increasing need to add new functionalities and improve the performances, through the integration on the optical fibers of advanced functional materials providing the control and manipulation of light at nanoscale. Lab-on-Fiber technology may constitute a valid solution to satisfy this ever increasing request for advanced photonic devices, components and systems. Lab on Fiber is indeed an emerging field envisioning a novel class of advanced, multifunctional photonic devices and components arising from the integration onto optical fibers of different materials at micro and nano-scale with suitable physical, chemical and biological properties. This new fascinating and intriguing research field thus proposes a new technological platform where functionalized materials, devices and components are constructed, embedded all together in a single optical fiber providing the necessary physical connections and light matter interaction, exploitable in both communication and sensing applications. This technological innovation would open the way for the creation of a novel technological world completely integrated in a single optical fiber conferring unique and unprecedented performances and functionality degree. This lecture reviews the strategies, the main achievements and related devices in the “Lab on Fiber” roadmap discussing perspectives and challenges that lie ahead.