TELLURITE GLASS, OPTICAL FIBRE, OPTICAL AMPLIFIER AND LIGHT SOURCE

摘要

The present invention relates to a tellurite glass composition suitable for use in an optical fiber. A glass composition including at least 4 mole % of at least one alkalihalide XY for increasing its thermal stability range is provided, X being selected from the group of K, Rb, Cs and Fr and Y being selected from the group of F, Cl, Br and I. The XY content of a preferred glass composition is about 10 mole %. The addition of alkalihalide increases the thermal stability range of the glass considerably without loosing other desirable properties. The glass composition may be doped with Er2O3 or another lanthanide oxide for amplifying purposes. The increased thermal stability results in more reliable optical fiber drawing and an improved manufacturing process. Appropriate control of the refractive index of the glass composition is preferably achieved with Nb2O5 or Bi2O3.