CO2laser waveguides from germania-based glasses

Glasses based on germanium dioxide have been prepared and their bulk optical constants measured in the wavelength range 5-55 mu m. These data have been applied to assess the potential of the glasses as hollow waveguides for the CO 2 laser operating at about 10.6 mu m wavelength. The results suggest that glasses with low oxide additions (<10 mol.%) to GeO 2 are preferable when waveguide transmissions and fibre fabrications are taken into account. Some initial data on waveguide bending losses indicate that these are reduced significantly when the glass maintains a refractive index of less than unity at CO 2 laser wavelengths.