Abstract

Systems based on CO₂ laser as a heat source have been proposed and developed for drawing of glass fiber optical wave guides. Several optical configurations have been used to redistribute the laser radiation uniformly around the preform. The small heat zone and cleaner atmosphere are considered to be of advantage in the manufacture of fiber guides. We present here some analytical results and their experimental verification to show that the laser system imposes certain limitations on the fiber drawing speed and the preform diameter. These limitations are the result of short heat zone length and high absorption coefficient of fused silica at the 10.6μm wavelength.

© 1977 Optical Society of America