Flexible small-bore hollow fibers with an inner polymer coating

Opt Lett. 2000 Feb 1;25(3):150-2. doi: 10.1364/ol.25.000150.

Abstract

Flexible hollow-glass fibers with small-bore diameters of 250 and 320 mum have been developed for Er:YAG laser delivery. The fibers consist of a glass capillary tube and an inner coating of silver and polymer thin films that are deposited by use of a simple liquid-phase technique. The 250-mum-bore fiber exhibits a straight loss of 0.8 dB/m and a bending loss of 1.2 dB when it is bent 180 degrees at the output end, with a bending radius of 2 cm. The maximum energy delivered by the fibers is ~100 mJ.