CO laser power delivery by As₂S₃ IR glass fiber with teflon cladding

The high-intensity power delivery of CO laser with a As₂S₃ chalcogenide glass fiber for medical applications is described in this paper. The As₂S₃ glass fiber which had fluorinated ethylene propylene (Teflon FEP) cladding was used in this study. The fiber output of 1 5.3W was attained by means of the fiber which had 400μm core diameter without any degradation on the fiber. At the above condition, the light intensity of 16.9kW/cm² was obtained on the input end of the fiber. The maximum delivery power was restricted to melting of the core material at output end of the fiber. The allowable bending radius of the fiber was less than 30 mm. The applicability of this power delivery for medical applications, especially for the laser endoscopy and the laser angioplasty are discussed.