Optical properties of AgI/Ag infrared hollow fiber in the visible wavelength region.

We report on AgI/Ag infrared hollow fiber with low-loss in visible region. Improved methods of silver plating and iodination were proposed to fabricate the hollow fiber. The surface roughness of the silver layer and the silver iodide layer was reduced by the pretreatment with an SnCl2 solution and low iodination temperature. Losses for the Er:YAG and green laser light were 0.4 and 7dB/m. The loss property of green laser beam was low to deliver a pilot beam for the invisible infrared laser light. Owing to the smooth and uniform AgI film, the loss spectrum of the hollow fiber showed clear interference peaks in the visible region. An empirical formula for AgI material dispersion was derived, which is of special importance for the design of high-performance AgI/Ag hollow fiber.