Abstract
Flexible plastic waveguides (FPW) were first developed for CO2 laser radiation. Further investigation of the factors which influence the quality of the reflecting and refracting layers, have led to the development of a method of smoothing of the substrate and the layers. A mechanism of controlling the dielectric layer thickness was also devised. Based on this knowledge we produced waveguides which can transmit several wavelengths of laser radiation. Measurements of the transmission characteristics of FPW coupled to Er-YAG (2.94 micrometers ), and Ho-YAG (2.1 micrometers ), CO (5.5 micrometers ), CO2 (10.6 and 9.6 micrometers ), and TEA laser (9.6 micrometers ), under various conditions (power, bending) were made and show good results. The use of the FPW in transmitting these types of laser radiation may broaden the spectrum of uses of the waveguides in medical application, i.e., hard tissues (bone, teeth) and in the eyes.
