The optical properties of edge-defined, film-fed growth (EFG) and laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) sapphire fibers were characterized, and the utility of these fibers for medical and industrial applications assessed. While EFG fibers are not yet produced with good optical quality, they offer enormous potential for mass production of sapphire fibers. The LHPG process has been successfully employed to produce good optical quality sapphire. This dissertation focussed on the optical attenuation mechanisms which limit the transmission properties of both EFG and LHPG sapphire fibers.;The EFG fibers obtained for this research were found to contain bubbles along the fiber axes. As a result of the bubble inclusions, the measured optical scattering coefficients of the fibers were quite high. At a wavelength of 2.94 ;Some of the LHPG fibers grown at Rutgers had measured attenuation coefficients of less than 2 dB/m at 2.94 ;Melt extruded Teflon-FEP claddings were applied to LHPG fibers. The claddings were very effective in reducing evanescent coupling of Er:YAG laser energy to aqueous environments surrounding the fiber. Unclad LHPG sapphire fibers, 340 ;Mechanical testing of both EFG and LHPG sapphire fibers showed that stress corrosion plays an important role in the fracture of sapphire. Fibers broken in air, at room temperature, strained about 0.4% prior to catastrophic failure.
展开▼
机译：表征了边缘限定的，薄膜进给生长（EFG）和激光加热的基座生长（LHPG）蓝宝石纤维的光学特性，并评估了这些纤维在医学和工业应用中的用途。尽管尚未生产出具有良好光学质量的EFG纤维，但它们为大规模生产蓝宝石纤维提供了巨大的潜力。 LHPG工艺已成功用于产生良好光学质量的蓝宝石。本文着重研究了限制EFG和LHPG蓝宝石纤维传输特性的光衰减机理。研究发现，本研究获得的EFG纤维在纤维轴上均含有气泡。由于气泡的夹杂，测得的纤维的光散射系数非常高。在2.94的波长下；一些在Rutgers生长的LHPG光纤在2.94处测得的衰减系数小于2 dB / m；将熔融挤出的Teflon-FEP包层包覆到LHPG光纤上。包层在减少Er：YAG激光能量与光纤周围水环境的e逝耦合方面非常有效。裸露的LHPG蓝宝石纤维340; EFG和LHPG蓝宝石纤维的机械测试表明，应力腐蚀在蓝宝石的断裂中起着重要作用。在发生灾难性故障之前，室温下空气中的纤维断裂应变约为0.4％。
展开▼
