An Australian researcher is developing a 'leaky' optic fibre full of holes, which could see it used in applications as diverse as refrigerator lighting through to office communications.

Professor Graham Town, who is head of the Department of Electronic Engineering at Macquarie University, believes bubble-filled polymer could be lead to a breakthrough in the manufacture of optic fibres.

Town has developed a bubble-filled polymer fibre, which he says is cheap and energy efficient to produce.

Traditionally glass has been used to make the optical fibres, which are primarily used in long-distance communication networks.

Town has developed a cheaper and simpler polymer optic fibre that contains irregular air 'bubbles'.

Town says this bubbly material is then made into a fibre that is approximately 100 micrometres wide by drawing it down from a tower.