Elaboration of chalcogenide microstructured optical fibers preform by 3D additive manufacturing

Description

For several years, chalcogenide glasses have been studied as good candidates for numerous applications in the midinfrared region. Indeed, these glasses are transparent from 1 to 20 μm (depending on the composition), a mid- IR windows well-suited for sensing molecules whose optical signatures are located in the 2-16 μm range. In addition, thanks to appropriate thermal properties, chalcogenide glasses can be drawn into fibers, including microstructured optical fibers. In this work, a new method based on 3D-printing process is investigated to produce hollow chalcogenide glass preforms, which are then drawn into hollow-core fibers. The transmission of the "printed"hollow-core fiber has been measured and compared to the initial glass. A significant, but still manageable, increase by a factor of 2.5 is observed. This works opens a promising way for the fabrication of chalcogenide MOFs, more particularly for the elaboration of hollow core fibers. © 2021 SPIE.

Abstract

International audience

Additional details