Polyimide-polymer coated silver hollow glass-waveguides have been proposed for the first time as infrared light transmitting media for the applications in the fields of medicine and infrared sensors. The waveguides with inner diameter of 0.7 mm and length of 1 m have been fabricated by inner coating of polyimide and silver inside a fused- silica capillary tube. By measurements of the loss spectra of the waveguides, it is shown that polyimide-polymer coated silver hollow glass-waveguides have low-loss characteristics at some infrared wavelength regions. As a dielectric material, the polyimide-polymer has many advantages such as high heat-resistance, nontoxicity, durability, and low refractive index over other dielectrics. Moreover, a fabrication method employing liquid-flow coating leads to a possibility of the mass- production of the waveguides.

Date Published: 22 December 1994
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 2328, Biomedical Optoelectronic Devices and Systems II, (22 December 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.197498

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2328:
Biomedical Optoelectronic Devices and Systems II
Nathan I. Croitoru; Norbert Kroo; Mitsunobu Miyagi; Riccardo Pratesi; Juergen M. Wolfrum, Editor(s)