AFL’s Metal-Coated Optical Fibers Honored by 2022 Laser Focus World Innovators Awards

Spartanburg, SC – August 23, 2022 – AFL, an international manufacturer of fiber optic cable, connectivity and accessories, announced today that its Metal-Coated Optical Fibers, specifically AFL’s Verrillon® VHT500 Ultra-High Temperature Single-mode Series and Verrillon VHT5000 Multimode Series, were recently recognized among the best by the 2022 Laser Focus World Innovators Awards. A panel of judges from the optics and photonics community recognized AFL as a Bronze honoree. 

“AFL’s Specialty Optical Fiber division has been producing optical fibers for use in fiber optic sensing for temperatures up to 300°C for over 20 years,” said Dr. Abdel Soufiane, General Manager/CTO, AFL Specialty Optical Fibers. “We have been asked for optical fibers that could survive above 300°C and with our gold-coated fiber, we can finally address these high temperature applications.” 

Verrillon VHT500 and VHT5000 optical fibers feature advanced glass chemistries for improved performance in hydrogen-rich environments and excellent optical performance in permanent, long-term exposure to temperatures up to 500⁰C. With AFL’s metal-coated fibers, the entire fiber becomes an ultra-high temperature sensor, allowing for very detailed evaluation of the equipment or process.

Part of AFL’s specialty cable product line, Verrillon VHT500 and VHT5000 optical fibers are designed to serve the ultra-harsh environment markets. Typically, these fibers are used in down-hole data logging for enhanced supercritical geothermal applications, high-temperature oil/gas downhole sensing and for monitoring high-temperature process vessels. Due to their protective metal coating, Verrillon® VHT500 and VHT5000 can perform and operate at temperatures up to 500°C.

“On behalf of the Laser Focus World Innovators Awards, I would like to congratulate AFL on their Bronze level honoree status,” said Laser Focus World Editor-in-Chief Peter Fretty. “This competitive program allows Laser Focus World to celebrate and recognize the most innovative products impacting the photonics community this year.” 

The Bronze award level recognizes an innovation that resulted in improvement over previous methods employed, approaches taken or products/systems used.

To learn more about AFL, and its products and services, visit www.AFLglobal.com.

About Laser Focus World 
Published since 1965, Laser Focus World has become the most trusted global resource for engineers, researchers, scientists, and technical professionals by providing comprehensive coverage of photonics technologies, applications, and markets. Laser Focus World reports on and analyzes the latest developments and significant trends in both the technology and business of photonics worldwide — and offers greater technical depth than any other publication in the field.

About AFL
Founded in 1984, AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise, hyperscale and industrial markets. The company’s products are in use in over 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment, fusion splicers and training. AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless and outside plant applications.
 
Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan. For more information, visit www.AFLglobal.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and read our blog.

Contacts
Dr. Abdel Soufiane
General Manager/CTO, AFL Specialty Optical Fibers
508.890.7100
Abdel.Soufiane@AFLglobal.com  

Bailey Verreault
Public Relations Specialist, AFL
864.433.5554
Bailey.Verreault@AFLglobal.com