Claims
- 1. A waveguide, comprising:
a first portion extending along a waveguide axis comprising a first chalcogenide glass; and a second portion extending along the waveguide axis comprising a second chalcogenide glass, wherein the second chalcogenide glass is different from the first chalcogenide glass.
- 2. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first chalcogenide glass has a different refractive index than the second chalcogenide glass.
- 3. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first chalcogenide glass comprises As and Se.
- 4. The waveguide of claim 3, wherein the first chalcogenide glass comprises As2Se3.
- 5. The waveguide of claim 3, wherein the first chalcogenide glass further comprises Pb, Sb, Bi, I, or Te.
- 6. The waveguide of claim 1 or 3, wherein the second chalcogenide glass comprises As and S.
- 7. The waveguide of claim 6, wherein the second chalcogenide glass comprises As2S3.
- 8. The waveguide of claim 1 or 3, wherein the second chalcogenide glass comprises P and S.
- 9. The waveguide of claim 8, wherein the second chalcogenide glass further comprises Ge or As.
- 10. The waveguide of claim 1, further comprising a hollow core.
- 11. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first chalcogenide glass has a refractive index of 2.7 or more.
- 12. The waveguide of claim 11, wherein the second chalcogenide glass has a refractive index of 2.7 or less.
- 13. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first chalcogenide glass has a Tg of about 180° C. or more.
- 14. The waveguide of claim 13, wherein the second chalcogenide glass has a Tg of about 180° C. or more.
- 15. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the waveguide has a loss coefficient less than about 2 dB/m for electromagnetic energy having a wavelength of about 10.6 microns.
- 16. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first portion surrounds a core.
- 17. The waveguide of claim 16, wherein the second portion surrounds the core.
- 18. The waveguide of claim 16, wherein the second portion surrounds the first portion.
- 19. The waveguide of claim 16, wherein the core has a minimum cross-sectional dimension of at least about 10 λ, where λ is the wavelength of radiation guided by the waveguide.
- 20. The waveguide of claim 19, wherein the minimum cross-sectional dimension of the core is at least about 20 λ.
- 21. The waveguide of claim 16, wherein the core has a minimum cross-sectional dimension of at least about 50 microns.
- 22. The waveguide of claim 21, wherein the core has a minimum cross-sectional dimension of at least about 100 microns.
- 23. The waveguide of claim 22, wherein the core has a minimum cross-sectional dimension of at least about 200 microns.
- 24. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the waveguide is a photonic crystal fiber.
- 25. The waveguide of claim 24, wherein the photonic crystal fiber comprises a confinement region and the first and second portions are part of the confinement region.
- 26. The waveguide of claim 24, wherein the photonic crystal fiber is a Bragg fiber.
- 27. A method comprising:
providing a waveguide comprising a first portion extending along a waveguide axis including a first chalcogenide glass and a second portion extending along the waveguide axis; and guiding electromagnetic energy from a first location to a second location through the waveguide.
- 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the second portion includes a second chalcogenide glass different from the first chalcogenide glass.
- 29. The method of claim 27, wherein the electromagnetic energy has a wavelength of between about 2 microns and 15 microns.
- 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the electromagnetic energy has a power of more than about one Watt.
- 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the electromagnetic energy has a power of more than about 10 Watts.
- 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the electromagnetic energy has a power of more than about 100 Watts.
- 33. The method of claim 27, further comprising coupling the electromagnetic energy from a laser into the waveguide.
- 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the laser is a CO2 laser.
- 35. The method of claim 27, wherein the waveguide is a photonic crystal fiber.
- 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the photonic crystal fiber is a Bragg fiber.
- 37. An apparatus, comprising
a dielectric waveguide extending along an axis and configured to guide electromagnetic radiation along the axis, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a power greater than about 1 Watt.
- 38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength greater than about 2 microns.
- 39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength greater than about 5 microns.
- 40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength less than about 20 microns.
- 41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength less than about 15 microns.
- 42. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength from about 10 microns to 11 microns.
- 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength of about 10.6 microns.
- 44. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein electromagnetic radiation has a power greater than about 5 Watts.
- 45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein electromagnetic radiation has a power greater than about 10 Watts.
- 46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein electromagnetic radiation has a power greater than about 100 Watts.
- 47. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the dielectric waveguide comprises a first portion extending along the waveguide axis comprising a first chalcogenide glass.
- 48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the dielectric waveguide further comprises a second portion extending along the waveguide axis, the second portion having a different composition than the first portion.
- 49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the second portion comprises a second glass different from the first chalcogenide glass.
- 50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the second glass is a chalcogenide glass.
- 51. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the second glass is an oxide glass.
- 52. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the waveguide is a photonic crystal fiber.
- 53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the photonic crystal fiber is a Bragg fiber.
- 54. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the waveguide comprises a hollow core.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application 60/428,382, entitled “HIGH POWER WAVEGUIDE,” and filed Nov. 22, 2002, and Provisional Patent Application 60/458,645, entitled “PHOTONIC CRYSTAL FIBER,” and filed Mar. 28, 2003, the entire contents each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60458645 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
|
60428382 |
Nov 2002 |
US |