This thesis is concerned with the production of metal-coated optical fibres, the fibres being drawn within a vacuum. Most common methods for producing optical fibres employ an oxy-gas ring burner or an inert gas resistance furnace to reach the high temperatures necessary to melt silica. These methods have the disadvantage of exposing the molten or hot silica fibre to the atmosphere before a protective coating is applied, thereby increasing the possibility of contaminants being present at the fibre surface. A novel though more elaborate method of producing fibres is described, with preliminary experimental results. Vacuum production allows the fibre to be metal-coated, using a magnetron sputtering technique, before exposure to the atmosphere, and the methods by which this is achieved are described. An electromagnetically operated optical fibre switch utilising a ferromagnetically-coated optical fibre is also described.