3M gift supports Clemson optical fiber capabilities

March 6, 2007, Clemson, SC--A gift from 3M Corporation makes Clemson University the only university in the United States, and one of only a few in the world, to have industry-level optical fiber fabrication capabilities. The company has given Clemson a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) lathe worth almost $900,000.

"The gift of the lathe is a tremendous asset to expanding our capabilities," said John Ballato, director of the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET) at Clemson. COMSET supports optical materials research and development from concept to commerce. It is the nation's academic focal point for research into organic and inorganic optical materials, especially optical fiber fabrication. The center currently holds, among others, a $1 million annual Department of Defense contract on high-power fiber lasers. With the backing of the J.E. Sirrine Textile Foundation and 3M, it also has been approved for a $10 million endowed professorship in optical fibers as part of the South Carolina Research Center of Economic Excellence Program.

In addition to the lathe, the Clemson Optical Fiber Laboratory is comprised of a Heathway Fiber Draw Tower equipped with three interchangeable, controlled-atmosphere furnaces that can cover a range of temperatures, from ambient to 2200 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature is most often used to draw silica materials while the two intermediate temperature furnaces are used for soft glasses and polymer draws. The draw tower and lathe are staffed by three full-time researchers with more than 40 years of cumulative industrial experience in the optical fiber industry.

For more information, visit http://www.clemson.edu.