Carbon fiber bows have been making good headway in the design and manufacture of carbon fiber bows for musical instruments. Here's a good article:
Read more here:
http://blog.sharmusic.com/blog/bid/86755/Pernambuco-vs-Carbon-Fiber-Bows
For over 250 years, pernambuco wood – harvested from the Pau-brasil tree in Brazil – has been the only material found suitable for constructing bows for string instruments. The springiness, strength, and workability of pernambuco wood is unmatched by any other species of tree.
Carbon fiber is a synthetic material that is both lightweight and super-strong. It consists offibers, thinner than human hair, which can be woven and molded into a permanent shape. Significant advances have been made in the science of carbon fiber over the past several decades. More and more bows (and instruments!) are being made from this material that meet or exceed some of their wooden counterparts.
Read more here:
http://blog.sharmusic.com/blog/bid/86755/Pernambuco-vs-Carbon-Fiber-Bows
