Soft, stretchable optical fibers via thermal drawing

Optical fibers that can sustain large elastic deformations are promising building blocks in soft robotics, medical and wearable devices, and advanced textiles. Thus far, however, the fabrication methods developed for soft optical fibers have remained unmatured. Here, we present thermal drawing as a materials and processing platform to fabricate 10s of meters-long soft, multi-material optical fibers with intriguing architectures. It offers unprecedented opportunities to realize step-index soft optical fibers, as well as photonic crystal fibers for transmission, reflection, and sensing.