Infrared (IR) fibers offer a versatile approach to guiding and manipulating light in the IR spectrum, which is becoming increasingly more prominent in a variety of scientific disciplines and technological applications. Despite well-established efforts on the fabrication of IR fibers in past decades, a number of remarkable breakthroughs have recently rejuvenated the field-just as related areas in IR optical technology are reaching maturation. In this review, we describe both the history and recent developments in the design and fabrication of IR fibers, including IR glass and single-crystal fibers, multimaterial fibers, and fibers that exploit the transparency window of traditional crystalline semiconductors. This interdisciplinary review will be of interest to researchers in optics and photonics, materials science, and electrical engineering.

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Abstract:We report on the progress of bismuth oxide glass holey fibers for nonlinear device applications. The use of micron-scale core diameters has resulted in a very high nonlinearity of 1100 W -1 km -1 at 1550 nm. The nonlinear performance of the fibers is evaluated in terms of a newly introduced figure-of-merit for nonlinear device applications. Anomalous dispersion at 1550 nm has been predicted and experimentally confirmed by soliton self-frequency shifting. In addition, we demonstrate the fusionsplicing of a bismuth holey fiber to silica fibers, which has resulted in reduced coupling loss and robust single mode guiding at 1550 nm. 440-442 (2003)

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A general mathematical framework is presented for modelling the pulling of optical glass fibres in a draw tower. The only modelling assumption is that the fibres are slender; cross-sections along the fibre can have general shape, including the possibility of multiple holes or channels. A key result is to demonstrate how a so-called reduced time variable τ serves as a natural parameter in describing how an axial-stretching problem interacts with the evolution of a general surface-tension-driven transverse flow via a single important function of τ , herein denoted by H(τ ), derived from the total rescaled cross-plane perimeter. For any given preform geometry, this function H(τ ) may be used to calculate the tension required to produce a given fibre geometry, assuming only that the surface tension is known. Of principal practical interest in applications is the 'inverse problem' of determining the initial cross-sectional geometry, and experimental draw parameters, necessary to draw a desired final cross-section. Two case studies involving annular tubes are presented in detail: one involves a cross-section comprising an annular concatenation of sintering near-circular discs, the cross-section of the other is a concentric annulus. These two examples allow us to exemplify and explore two features of the general inverse problem. One is the question of the uniqueness of solutions for a given set of experimental parameters, the other concerns the inherent ill-posedness of the inverse problem. Based on these examples we also give an experimental validation of the general model and discuss some experimental matters, such as buckling and stability. The ramifications for modelling the drawing of fibres with more complicated geometries, and multiple channels, are discussed.

▪ Abstract  The development of microstructured optical fibers has led to the realization of many optical properties in fiber form that were not previously attainable. This chapter reviews the background to this work and overviews both the fundamentals of and progress in fabricating and modeling these structures. Until relatively recently, most of the work in this field was based on silica glass; this chapter provides an update on progress in developing microstructured fibers from other materials such as soft glasses. Some of the key applications of microstructured fibers, including nonlinear fiber–based devices and fibers for high power light delivery, are also reviewed.

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