Fabrication and characterization of Ge-Sb-Se-I glasses and fibers.

Chalcogenide glasses of the GeSbSeI ( x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 at.%) system were prepared. This study was performed to examine some Ge-Sb-Se-I glass physical and optical properties, the structural evolution of the glass network, and the optical properties of the infrared glass fibers based on our previous studies. The variation process of the glass physical properties, such as transition temperature, glass density, and refractive index, was investigated from the glass of GeSbSe to the GeSbSeI glass series. The structural evolutions of these glasses were examined by Raman spectroscopy. The GeSbSeI composition was selected for the preparation of the IR fiber. The GeSbSeI glass was purified through distillation, and the intensity of the impurity absorption peaks caused by Ge-O, HO, and Se-H was reduced or eliminated in the purified glasses. Then, GeSbSeI chalcogenide glass fiber for mid-infrared transmission was fabricated using high-purity materials. The transmission loss of the GeSbSeI fiber was greatly reduced compared with that of the GeSbSe glass fiber. The lowest losses obtained were 3.5 dB/m at 3.3 μm for GeSbSeI fiber, which was remarkably improved compared with 48 dB/m of the unpurified GeSbSe fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]