AgI-coated silver-clad stainless steel hollow waveguides for infrared lightwave transmission and their applications

We fabricated silver iodide (AgI)-coated silver hollow waveguides to transmit a wide range of infrared (IR) light. Silver-clad stainless steel pipes were used as a supporting pipe. Since this type of metallic hollow waveguide has high mechanical strength and heat resistance, it is suitable as a rigid lightwave probe for various applications such as dental or medical laser treatment, IR spectroscopy, thermal radiometry, and laser processing. Considering these applications, we estimated the hollow waveguides with different thicknesses of the AgI layer. By optimizing the AgI layer thickness according to the wavelength of propagating light, we succeeded in efficiently transmitting Er-YAG and CO(2) laser light. We also studied the optical characteristics of a wide range of incoherent light for IR spectroscopy and radiometry applications using these metallic hollow waveguides as lightwave probes.     

Hollow-waveguide delivery systems for high-power, industrial CO(2) lasers

Hollow-sapphire and metal-dielectric-coated hollow-glass waveguides have been used to deliver CO(2) laser power for industrial laser applications. The transmission, bending loss, and output-beam properties of these waveguides are described. The bore sizes of the hollow-sapphire waveguides were 1070 and 790 μm, and the hollow-glass waveguide had a bore of 700 μm. The waveguides ranged in length from 1.1 to 1.5 m. The sapphire waveguides were bent to 90°, and the hollow-glass waveguides were bent into a full 360° loop. We delivered a maximum of 1.8 kW through the 1070-μm-bore sapphire waveguide and 1.0 kW through the hollow-glass waveguide. All the hollow waveguides incorporated a water jacket to prevent overheating.     

Refractive indices and extinction coefficients of polymers for the mid-infrared region

Refractive indices and extinction coefficients of several polymers have been measured for the wide infrared wavelength region. The polymers used as coating materials have also been found useful for low-loss hollow waveguides for the transmission of Er:YAG, CO, and CO(2) laser light, respectively.     

High-peak-power, pulsed CO(2) laser light delivery by hollow glass waveguides

Flexible hollow glass waveguides with internal metallic and dielectric coatings have been used to deliver high-peak-power transversely excited atmosphere CO(2) laser energy. The straight guide loss is as low as 0.17 dB/m for 1000-mum-bore guides and 0.46 dB/m for 530-mum-bore guides propagating the HE(11) mode. The loss increases to 0.93 and 1.36 dB/m, respectively, when guides are bent to a radius of 0.25 m. The hollow glass waveguides have been used to deliver pulsed CO(2) laser energy successfully with a peak power of 0.7 MW and an energy of 350 mJ per pulse with a gas purge through the hollow core. The delivered average power is as high as 27 W. It is concluded that these waveguides are promising candidates for pulsed CO(2) laser delivery in medical and surgical applications.     

Broadband flexible waveguides for free-electron laser radiation

We refined flexible waveguides previously developed for CO(2) and Er:YAG laser radiation to transmit free-electron-laser (FEL) radiation. One can tune this laser over several segments of the radiation spectrum. This laser has a high peak power of as much as 10 MW with pulse energy of as much as 100 mJ. We made the waveguides of either Teflon or fused-silica tubes internally coated with metal and dielectric layers. We optimized the internal coatings specifications for transmission of various radiation wavelengths in the mid-IR range and enabled transmission of high-peak radiation. We performed experiments in three major FEL sites in the United States over a more than 1-year period when we measured and examined various characteristics of transmission. We used the analysis of these experiments as feedback to further improve these waveguides. The good preliminary results encourage us to invest more effort to further develop these waveguides until a suitable waveguide is obtained for this type of laser and make possible its introduction to the medical field where its characteristics can be exploited in surgical applications.     

介质(Ag/AgI)镀层空芯玻璃光纤的制备及红外传输性能的研究

介质（Ａｇ／ＡｇＩ）镀层空芯玻璃光纤是一种较好的传输红外激光的柔性光纤材料．采用液相化学沉积法成功地制备了内径分别为１．０、０．５３、０．３２ｍｍ,长度为１．５ｍ的介质（Ａｇ／ＡｇＩ）镀层玻璃空芯光纤．利用傅里叶红外光谱仪和 ＬＪＬ－３５Ａ ＣＯ_２激光器分别测试了介质（Ａｇ／ＡｇＩ）镀层玻璃空芯光纤的传输损耗,测试结果表明：介质（Ａｇ／ＡｇＩ）镀层空芯玻璃光纤在２．５～２０μｍ波长范围内有较低的损耗值;随着光纤内径（α）的增大,空芯光纤的传输损耗（α）降低,这与Ｍｉｇａｇｉ理论（α　∝１／α^３）相符合．另外,由于光纤的注入端头发热致使介质（Ａｇ／ＡｇＩ）镀层空芯玻璃光纤的传输损耗随注入功率的增加而增大．     

Cyclic olefin polymer-coated silver hollow glass waveguides for the infrared

Cyclic olefin polymer (COP) is newly used as the inner dielectric of infrared, hollow glass waveguides because of its low extinction coefficient in the mid-infrared region. A liquid-flow coating and dry-cure process are employed to form the COP layer on the inside of a silver-coated hollow glass tube. In the coating process, cyclohexane is chosen as the solvent of COP to form a smooth and uniform COP layer. It is shown that COP-coated silver hollow glass waveguides show low loss properties for CO(2), CO, and Er:YAG laser light when the thickness of the COP layer is properly chosen.     

Infrared transmissive, hollow plastic waveguides with inner Ag-Agl coatings

Hollow polycarbonate waveguides with thin-film coatings of Ag-AgI were fabricated by liquid-phase chemistry methods. These hollow waveguides, which have bore sizes ranging from 500 to 2000 microm and lengths as long as 2 m, are transmissive from 2 to more than 20 microm. The lowest loss of 0.02 dB/m was obtained for a straight 2000 microm bore guide at 10.6 microm. This is to our knowledge the lowest loss measured for any IR fiber at CO2 laser wavelengths. The bending losses were found to increase as 1/R, where R is the radius of the bend. These waveguides were able to withstand 18 W of CO2 laser input power for bore sizes greater than 1000 microm.     

Optical properties of small-bore hollow glass waveguides

Hollow glass waveguides with a 250-μm i.d. have been fabricated with a liquid-phase deposition technique that uses silica tubing as a base material. The losses of the 250-μm-bore guide measured at CO(2) laser wavelengths are as low as 2.0 dB/m. The straight losses for the hollow guides are in good agreement with theoretically predicted losses as a result of the nearly ideal structure of the guides. It is also shown that the guides have low bending losses, a nearly pure-mode delivery, and good high-power laser transmission. By proper design of the dielectric thickness, the guide is also able to deliver Er:YAG laser energy with a low loss of 1.2 dB/m for the 320-μm-bore waveguide. Because the hollow glass waveguide is very flexible and robust, it is quite suitable for medical applications.     

Thickness and uniformity of fluorocarbon polymer film dynamically coated inside silver hollow glass waveguides

The variation in properties of a fluorocarbon polymer (FCP) film during a drying-curing process is investigated for fabricating FCP-coated silver (FCP/Ag) hollow glass waveguides. A dynamic liquid-phase coating procedure is used. Through the analyses of the loss spectra of hollow waveguides made in various conditions, a relationship between the thickness of the FCP film and the coating velocity is obtained. The optimum fabrication condition is also established for producing FCP/Ag hollow glass waveguides for the mid-IR.     

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy in coiled hollow optical waveguides

We demonstrate tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy of CO2 and NH3 near 1.5 microm using a distributed feedback diode laser in conjunction with hollow optical waveguides as long-path sample cells. The waveguides are coiled to reduce the physical extent of the system. The small volume of the waveguide provides rapid instrument response to changes in gas concentration. To reduce the pressure drop associated with long lengths and high flow rates, we perforate the waveguides in a novel geometry providing parallel pneumatic paths while maintaining optical path length. A minimum detectable absorbance of 3.5 x 10(-5) in a 3-m section of waveguide is demonstrated.     

Loss and modal properties of Ag/AgI hollow glass waveguides

Hollow glass waveguides, composed of Ag/AgI coatings, have been studied at 10.6 μm. The losses for different bore sizes equal the theoretical loss, which for the 700 μm bore guide was about 0.15 dB/m. The losses for the guides increase upon bending, varying linearly with increasing curvature. These hollow guides propagate a single mode when the bore size of the guide is approximately 30λ. In addition, the best single-mode transmission is obtained when the thickness of the glass wall is large. These smaller bores, thick wall hollow guides, can also be used to filter higher order modes from poor quality input laser beams.     

Thermal effects in a hollow waveguide beam launch for CO(2) laser power delivery

Thermal effects caused by launching conditions in a CO(2) laser beam delivery that uses metallic hollow waveguides is investigated. It is found that front-end clipping is the main cause of thermal loading and generates a steep temperature gradient at the fiber front end while the continuous beam attenuation produces a temperature distribution declining slowly along the waveguide.     

Fabrication of copper oxide-coated hollow waveguides for CO2 laser radiation

Hollow fibers for transmitting CO(2) laser light were fabricated by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. A dielectric film of copper oxide (Cu(2)O) was deposited upon the inside of a Ag-coated glass capillary by use of a metal acetylacetonate as the precursor. The waveguide, which was coated with Cu(2)O and had a bore diameter of 700 mum, showed a loss of 0.9 dB/m for CO(2) laser light. The Cu(2)O film deposited by CVD had high chemical and heat resistivity. Therefore a hollow fiber coated with copper oxide is suitable for high-power laser applications in a severe environment.     

溶胶-凝胶法制备全反射型CO2激光空芯波导的可行性分析

通过对CO2激光空芯导研究现状的分析,指出了全拓射型空芯导目前所面临的问题,在此基础上结合溶胶－凝胶法的特点,提出了用溶胶－凝胶法制备全反射型CO2激光空芯波导反常色散膜的新思想,并分析了其在原理、工艺及光学上的可行性。     

传输紫外激光用空芯光纤结构设计

对传输紫外激光用空芯光纤结构进行了研究.铝膜是从紫外到红外都有很高反射率的理想材料,用它来研制的空芯光纤的直线损耗和弯曲损耗均较小.在铝膜上涂覆设计厚度的低折射率膜可进一步提高系统的反射率,增加传输效率,并保护铝膜免受大气侵蚀.     

Optical properties of hollow calcium aluminate glass waveguides

Calcium aluminate glass has a refractive index less than 1 at 10.6 μ, and therefore it is a good candidate for a hollow fiber for the transmission of CO(2) laser energy. We have drawn hollow calcium aluminate glass fibers with inner diameters ranging from 380 to 500 μ. The loss for our 500-μm inner-diameter hollow glass fibers measured at 10.6 μm is 8.6 dB/m.     

Quantitative measurements of CO2 and CH4 using a multipass Raman capillary cell

Raman measurements of two common gases are made using a simple multipass capillary Raman cell (MCC) coupled to an unfiltered 18 around 1 fiber-optic Raman probe. The MCC, which is fabricated by chemical deposition of silver on the inner walls of a 2 mm inner diameter glass capillary tube, gives up to 20-fold signal enhancements for nonabsorbing gases. The device is relatively small and suitable for remote and in situ Raman measurements with optical fibers. The optical behavior of the MCC is similar to previously described liquid-core waveguides and hollow metal-coated waveguides used for laser transmission, but unlike the former devices, the MCC is generally applicable to a very wide range of nonabsorbing gases.     

Processing and characterization of silver films used to fabricate hollow glass waveguides

Hollow glass waveguides are an increasingly popular fiber for the delivery of high-power IR laser radiation. At CO(2) laser wavelengths the measured and theoretical losses agree, but at the 3-microm Er:YAG laser wavelength the losses remain higher than expected. The reason for this is the surface roughness of the silver film used to form the first layer of the Ag/AgI thin-film structure. We found that the roughness of the silver film increases fivefold as silvering times increase from 5 to 80 min. This increased surface roughness produces a concomitant linear increase in the attenuation coefficient for the silver-only guides for wavelengths shorter than approximately 5 microm.     

CO2激光传输用锥形波导耦合器的设计、制备及其性能研究

针对CO2激光传输用空芯波导的特点，设计、制各了锥形空芯波导耦合器系统。对此耦合系统的传输性能测试表明，使用该锥形空芯波导耦合器能够显著提高空芯波导的激光传输性能。