Title :
Evaluation of sapphire fibers for laser medical applications
Author :
Ediger, M.N. ; Waynant, R.W. ; Djeu, N.I. ; Shimoji, Y. ; Chang, R. S E
Author_Institution :
US Food & Drug Adm., Rockville, MD, USA
Abstract :
Transmission measurements have been made to evaluate the optical properties of single-crystal sapphire fibers and to assess the utility of these fibers for medical applications. Measurements of some of the first fibers drawn show transmission near the Fresnel limit in the visible with expectedly higher scattering losses in the ultraviolet. Data also suggests the presence of color centers, and increased transmission has been observed after annealing at temperatures to 1200 K. Preliminary measurements of optical breakdown strength suggest a limit of about 1 kJ/cm2
Keywords :
laser applications in medicine; optical fibres; sapphire; 1200 K; Fresnel limit; UV; annealing; color centers; optical breakdown strength; optical properties; scattering losses; single-crystal sapphire fibers; Biomedical equipment; Biomedical optical imaging; Fiber lasers; Laser applications; Loss measurement; Medical services; Optical fiber losses; Optical scattering; Propagation losses; Solid lasers;
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1989. Images of the Twenty-First Century., Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in
Conference_Location :
Seattle, WA
DOI :
10.1109/IEMBS.1989.96595
