Research progress of fiber optic imaging elements

Fiber optic imaging elements is a general term for optical fiber products including fiber optic plate (FOP), fiber optic inverter (FOI), and fiber optic taper (FOT), which is a light and image transmission array made of optical glass fibers that are drawn, regularly arranged, vacuum melted-pressed, secondary thermal processed and optically processed. They are mainly used in photomultiplier devices for low-light-level night vision and particle detection equipment. Its devices have been widely used in many fields such as low-light night vision, electronics, aerospace, nuclear diagnostics, high-speed photography, etc., especially in the field of military operations at night combat, guidance, early warning, and electro-optical countermeasures. With the continuous development of glass fiber material, preparation technology and performance requirements, the optical fiber imaging element has been significantly improved, and its application field has been continuously expanded. This paper reviews the materials, structures, principles, characteristics, preparation processes and detection technologies of optic fiber imaging elements. It mainly summarizes the development situation, latest technological progress, and several major devices in optical applications. And the bottlenecks in the preparation and detection of fiber-optic imaging elements at present are analyzed. Furthermore, the development trend and challenges of fiber-optic imaging elements evolving to larger size with smaller diameter of fiber, higher contrast, higher resolution, lower distortion, ultra-short and ultra-light are prospected.