Ge28Sb12Se60 Chalcogenide Glass Microstructured Optical Fiber: Fabrication and Application

Abstract

Microstructured optical fibers (MOFs), and specifically suspended-core optical fibers based on chalcogenide glasses, have been studied intensively due to their great potential for applications to nonlinear optical devices. However, the chalcogenide glasses which have been widely used for microstructured optical fiber, such as As2S3 and As2Se3, contain highly toxic arsenic. Moreover, the fabrication of chalcogenide MOFs with required geometries remains a challenge, especially with suspended-core fibers which have small cores and even thinner supporting structure. The thesis starts with a review of MOFs based on different guidance mechanisms, as well as an introduction of supercontinuum generation based on MOFs. Recent research interests in MOFs has focused on fabricating MOFs based on infrared glasses, to expand the applications into the infrared especially the mid-infrared range. The applications of infrared glasses in MOFs are reviewed, and the Ge28Sb12Se60 (atom %) chalcogenide glass was selected from these candidates to fabricate MOF in this thesis, due to its thermal stability and the potential of being drawn into optical fibers. To manufacture MOFs, many methods have been developed during the last decades, and a review of these fabrication technologies is given. However, the fragility and relatively poor mechanical proprieties of Ge28Sb12Se60 chalcogenide glass require the conventional stack-and-draw method to be improved. The main innovation presented in this thesis is the demonstration, based on thorough analysis, that Ge28Sb12Se60 glass can be drawn into MOFs without obvious crystallization, and a suspended-core structure can be achieved. This opens the opportunity for applications such as supercontinuum generation and wire array metamaterials fibers for the mid-infrared region, with this arsenic-free and commercially available chalcogenide glass.