Fabrication of As-S and As-Se optical fiber with low hydrogen impurities using tellurium tetrachloride (TeC1 4 )

Abstract

Arsenic sulfide (As-S) and arsenic selenide (As-Se) glass optical fibers typically possess extrinsic absorption bands in the infrared wavelength region associated with residual hydrogen and oxygen related impurities, despite using purified precursors. We report a purification process based on the addition of 0.1 wt%tellurium tetrachloride (TeCl₄) to the glass. During melting, the chlorine from TeCl₄ reacts with the hydrogen impurities to produce volatile products (e.g. HCl) that can be removed by subsequent dynamic distillation. The processing conditions have been modified accordingly to give low H-S (1.5 dB/m) and low H-Se (0.2 dB/m) impurity content.