From selenium- to tellurium-based glass optical fibers for infrared spectroscopies

Chalcogenide glasses are based on sulfur, selenium and tellurium elements, and have been studied for several decades regarding different applications. Among them, selenide glasses exhibit excellent infrared transmission in the 1 to 15 µm region. Due to their good thermo-mechanical properties, these glasses could be easily shaped into optical devices such as lenses and optical fibers. During the past decade of research, selenide glass fibers have been proved to be suitable for infrared sensing in an original spectroscopic method named Fiber Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy (FEWS). FEWS has provided very nice and promising results, for example for medical diagnosis. Then, some sophisticated fibers, also based on selenide glasses, were developed: rare-earth doped fibers and microstructured fibers. In parallel, the study of telluride glasses, which can have transmission up to 28 µm due to its atom heaviness, has been intensified thanks to the DARWIN mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA). The development of telluride glass fiber enables a successful observation of CO₂ absorption band located around 15 µm. In this paper we review recent results obtained in the Glass and Ceramics Laboratory at Rennes on the development of selenide to telluride glass optical fibers, and their use for spectroscopy from the mid to the far infrared ranges.