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Chemical etching of AlF-based glasses

Chemical etching of AlF-based glasses
Chemical etching of AlF-based glasses
Aluminium fluoride based glass [AlF3-M(II)F2-xPO3 M=Mg, Ca, Ba, Sr] fibres have potential for use as 1.3µm amplifiers, but successful application depends on improving their poor mechanical strength. Surface contamination of the preform is a major factor contributing to the lack of strength; it can be improved by chemical etching. As the glass components are highly unreactive, few etching studies have been reported in the literature. In this work, two multicomponent etches have been identified for the purpose and characterised. Optimum working compositions are 0.4M AlCl3 - 6 H2O / 1M HCl and 50% HF (48%) / 30% HNO3 (68%) / 20% H2O plus 3M H3BO3. Both yield fibres of significantly improved strength and quality, although the former etch tends to perform slightly better. Furthermore, an etch procedure has been developed for the aluminium chloride mixture which enables good strength fibre to be pulled in a controlled and reproducible manner.
West, Y.D.
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Taylor, E.R.
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Moore, R.C.
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Payne, D.N.
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West, Y.D.
de4775d7-a064-4804-9dca-4076f5005c99
Taylor, E.R.
d9a73a87-6abd-4a1e-a462-84549c667d19
Moore, R.C.
a7d68363-4127-4f7b-9da4-ef66d19ab327
Payne, D.N.
4f592b24-707f-456e-b2c6-8a6f750e296d

West, Y.D., Taylor, E.R., Moore, R.C. and Payne, D.N. (1998) Chemical etching of AlF-based glasses. 2nd International Symposium on Non Oxide and New Optical Glasses (ISNOG), , Sheffield, UK. 06 - 10 Sep 1998.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Aluminium fluoride based glass [AlF3-M(II)F2-xPO3 M=Mg, Ca, Ba, Sr] fibres have potential for use as 1.3µm amplifiers, but successful application depends on improving their poor mechanical strength. Surface contamination of the preform is a major factor contributing to the lack of strength; it can be improved by chemical etching. As the glass components are highly unreactive, few etching studies have been reported in the literature. In this work, two multicomponent etches have been identified for the purpose and characterised. Optimum working compositions are 0.4M AlCl3 - 6 H2O / 1M HCl and 50% HF (48%) / 30% HNO3 (68%) / 20% H2O plus 3M H3BO3. Both yield fibres of significantly improved strength and quality, although the former etch tends to perform slightly better. Furthermore, an etch procedure has been developed for the aluminium chloride mixture which enables good strength fibre to be pulled in a controlled and reproducible manner.

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Published date: 1998
Venue - Dates: 2nd International Symposium on Non Oxide and New Optical Glasses (ISNOG), , Sheffield, UK, 1998-09-06 - 1998-09-10

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 76589
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/76589
PURE UUID: ce45f65c-1fe1-4607-9915-7c67852ad3a4

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Date deposited: 11 Mar 2010
Last modified: 13 Mar 2024 23:21

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Contributors

Author: Y.D. West
Author: E.R. Taylor
Author: R.C. Moore
Author: D.N. Payne

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