Optical Spectra Tuning of All-Glass Photonic Bandgap Fiber Infiltrated with Silver Fast-Ion-Conducting Glasses

Silver iodide metaphosphate glasses of the xAgI + (1-x)AgPO3 family are embedded inside the air capillaries of a commercial silica photonic crystal fiber (PCF) by means of vacuum-assisted infiltration technique. In this paper, we report on tuning the photonic bandgap (PBG) guidance characteristics of the fabricated all-glass photonic bandgap fibers, by varying the composition of the fast-ion-conducting phosphate glass infiltration medium. Doping AgPO3 metaphosphate glass with AgI significantly alters the PBG guidance patterns in the examined range between 350 and 1750 nm, as it leads to the introduction of numerous additional transmission stop-bands, while affecting scattering dependant losses. The effect of phosphate glass cooling method during sample fabrication on the transmission behavior of the xAgI + (1 x)AgPO3/PCFs is also considered.