Synthesis and Characterisation of Heavy Metal Fluoride Glasses and Fibres

The fabrication of optical fibres based on fluoride glasses has required the development of novel preparation techniques. Some of these techniques are based on methods used to prepare multicomponent oxide glass fibres although some have been developed specially for fluoride glasses. This paper will review such processes as glove-box melting, reactive atmosphere processing, and rapid quenching; show how these have been used to prepare fluoride glass fibres with losses down to 2.6 dB/km at 2.6 μm; and discuss remaining problems with the glass.