Fabrication of copper oxide-coated hollow waveguides for CO2 laser radiation

Hollow fibers for transmitting CO2 laser light were fabricated by the chemi cal vapor deposition (CVD) method. A dielectric film of copper oxide (Cu2O) was deposited upon the inside of a Ag-coated glass capillary by use of a m etal acetylacetonate as the precursor. The waveguide, which was coated with Cu2O and had a bore diameter of 700 mu m, showed a loss of 0.9 dB/m for CO 2 laser light. The Cu2O film deposited by CVD had high chemical and heat re sistivity. Therefore a hollow fiber coated with copper oxide is suitable fo r high-power laser applications in a severe environment. (C) 1999 Optical S ociety of America.