Effects of pressurization and surface tension on drawing Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide glass suspended-core fiber

Abstract

Drawing chalcogenide glass microstructured optical fibers efficiently requires a good understanding of the different drawing conditions beforehand, due to the high cost of the chalcogenide glass materials. A simulation based on Stokes’ model that includes pressurization and glass surface tension is validated with respect to drawing a Ge28Sb12Se60 chalcogenide glass single hole capillary, as well as microstructured optical fiber with three holes, with different pressurizations. Suspended-core Ge28Sb12Se60 fibers with bridges just hundreds of nanometer wide are drawn using parameters predicted by the simulations. These fibers should be suitable for applications such as generating mid-infrared (MIR) supercontinuum based on chalcogenide glasses.