Fabrication of hollow optical fiber with a vitreous film for CO_2 laser light delivery

摘要

Vitreous film based on the structural unit R_2SiO, where R is an organic group, is newly used as the reflection layer in the hollow optical fiber for CO_2 laser delivery. A smooth vitreous film is formed at room temperature by using the liquid-phase coating technique. The vitreous film-coated silver hollow optical fibers achieve low-loss property for lasers in the infrared regions by properly selecting fabrication conditions. A hollow fiber with thicker vitreous film designed for CO_2 laser light showed acceptable loss as an output tip. It is shown that the hollow tip is of high durability to withstand several cycles of autoclave sterilization.