Effects of pressurization and surface tension on drawing Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide glass suspended-core fiber

Abstract

Drawing chalcogenide glass microstructured optical fibers efficiently requires a good understanding of the different drawing conditions beforehand, due to the high cost of the chalcogenide glass materials. A simulation based on Stokes' model that includes pressurization and glass surface tension is validated with respect to drawing a Ge 28 Sb 12 Se 60 chalcogenide glass single hole capillary, as well as microstructured optical fiber with three holes, with different pressurizations. Suspended-core Ge 28 Sb 12 Se 60 fibers with bridges just hundreds of nanometer wide are drawn using parameters predicted by the simulations. These fibers should be suitable for applications such as generating mid-infrared (MIR) supercontinuum based on chalcogenide glasses.