Flexible plastic waveguides suitable for large interval of the infrared radiation spectrum

Israel Gannot; Jacob Dror; Alexandra Inberg; Nathan I. Croitoru; Stephan Schruender; Johannes Tschepe; Gerhard J. Mueller

doi:10.1117/12.180763

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28 July 1994 Flexible plastic waveguides suitable for large interval of the infrared radiation spectrum

Israel Gannot, Jacob Dror, Alexandra Inberg, Nathan I. Croitoru, Stephan Schruender, Johannes Tschepe, Gerhard J. Mueller

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Proceedings Volume 2131, Biomedical Fiber Optic Instrumentation; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.180763
Event: OE/LASE '94, 1994, Los Angeles, CA, United States

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.

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Israel Gannot, Jacob Dror, Alexandra Inberg, Nathan I. Croitoru, Stephan Schruender, Johannes Tschepe, and Gerhard J. Mueller "Flexible plastic waveguides suitable for large interval of the infrared radiation spectrum", Proc. SPIE 2131, Biomedical Fiber Optic Instrumentation, (28 July 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.180763

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