Applications of chalcogenide glass optical fibers

Chalcogenide-glass fibers based on sulfide,, selenide, telluride and their rare-earth-doped compositions are being actively pursued worldwide. Great strides have been made in reducing optical losses using improved chemical purification techniques, but further improvements are needed in both purification and fiberization technology to attain the theoretical optical losses. Despite this, chalcogenide-glass fibers are enabling numerous applications that include laser power delivery, chemical sensing, and imaging, scanning near field microscopy/spectroscopy, IR sources/lasers, amplifiers and optical switches. (C) 2002 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.