TiO_2–SiO_2 based glasses for infrared hollow waveguides

Hollow core waveguides made of TiO(2)-SiO(2) based glasses have been proposed for the IR. A series of TiO(2)-SiO(2) based glasses were prepared and their complex refractive indices measured by reflectometry. Using measured refractive indices, we calculated spectral losses of the TiO(2)-SiO(2) hollow waveguides. With the waveguides, we can expect efficient transmission of mid-IR light including CO(2) laser light, since refractive indices of the glasses become less than unity and the absorption coefficients become small in the 8-11-microm wavelength range.