Low Loss Chalcogenide Glass Infrared Fibers. Phase 1 SBIR. Final report.

摘要

Low loss infrared fibers for the 2 - 11 micron region have numerous applications in medical and industrial sensor and laser power delivery systems. This research project improves the loss in chalcogenide fibers via compositional study, chemical purification, and optimized fiber fabrication techniques. The new fibers based on GeAsSeTe glass compositions exhibit much improved loss over the previous fibers. The lowest optical attenuation of only 0.5 dB/m between 5.5 and 8 microns and 3 dB/m at 10.6 microns have been obtained. The new fibers performed well in infrared biological spectroscopy experiments and power delivery studies. Namely, they have made possible the measurements of very weak infrared absorption signals of biological membranes, and allowed high CO laser power transmission with power density greater than 7,639 Watts/sq cm.