Heavy metal halide glass fiber lightwave systems

Heavy metal halide glass fibers have the potential of optical loss between 0.001 and 0.01 dB/km in the 2-10 \mu m region. We have evaluated some of the system aspects of these fibers in order to determine the ultimate performance limits and to assist in defining waveguide design and fiber processing techniques. Extrinsic waveguide-related losses and limitations including microdeformation, optical nonlinearities, dispersion characteristics, and source and detector capabilities become more significant as the intrinsic losses decrease. Two representative halide glass systems are discussed: a heavy metal fluoride operating at \simeq 2 \mu m and a heavy metal chloride glass at \simeq 6 \mu m. The results indicate that repeater spacings ≳ 1200 and 3600 km at \lsim 1 Gbit/s may be possible for chlorides and fluorides, respectively.

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