Optical Fibers

Fiber Optic Cables for Laser Hair Removal

Recently, laser hair removal, a cosmetic procedure that uses lasers with radiation in the near infrared range (700 - 1063nm), has gained great popularity. The radiation of this range of light is well absorbed by melanin, which results in hair follicle destruction without subsequent restoration.

Today, there are many different types of hair removal lasers in the market. Despite their differences they all share one common feature, fiber optic cable. All hair removal lasers use fiber optic cable to transport the powerful laser beam to the target.

Fiber cables for hair removal, require large core diameter fibers to guide the light from the laser source to the tissue, from 1000 μm to 2000 μm, and high-quality fiber tip polishing is critical for the application. Failure can result in fiber burnt and malfunction of the laser application.

Fiber Cables for Hair Removal (specification)

There are two very critical elements in the design of a fiber cable for hair removal laser, centricity of the fiber at the connector ends and fixation of the fiber at the connectors. Uncentered fiber may result in fiber tip damage, burnt, and can also harm the operator or patience. Inadequate fixation of the fiber at the connectors can lead to fiber protrusion or pull inside the connector. As a result, the laser focusing disrupts and the cable fails to perform.

Square Core Fibers

Square core fibers excel in specific applications where traditional circular core fibers with Gaussian outputs are not ideal. The uniform “top hat” intensity profile these fibers provide are the desired output profile when performing tasks such as welding, photolithography, and spectroscopy. Square core fibers with round claddings are also excellent candidates for use in the laser diode industry, where the square shape enables a more ideal coupling match with the diode source. We offer pure silica square core fibers with a fluorine doped cladding (0.22 NA) in a wide range of core diameters from 100 μm to 1000 μm.

Applications

• Laser materials processing
• Astronomical spectroscopy
• Non-circular diode beam coupling
• Photolithography

Features

• Homogenized output distribution
• Top hat beam profile
• Greater capture area than round fibers for square inputs
• Broad application wavelengths: 190nm to 1250nm (High OH) and 300nm to 2400nm (Low OH)

• Various jacketing options: Acrylate, Nylon or Polyimide

Al-Coated Silica Fibers

Aluminum coated silica fibers are the optimal solution for applications in high temperature, vacuum and harsh environment conditions.

Al-coated fibers have all benefits of silica-silica fibers. Additional significant advantages include a superior mechanical strength and better fatigue resistance compared to polymer coated fibers.

The transmission range spans 220 to 2400nm depending on UV or NIR silica fiber core choice. The working temperature range is from -270°C to 400°C; humidity – up to 100%.

Main features:

• Working temperatures up to 400°C
• Excellent mechanical strength and flexibility
• No outgassing under high vacuum conditions
• Solderable into connectors (epoxy-free option)
• Effective heat rejection along metal coating
• Steaming, ETO, steam, e-beam or gamma sterilizable

Applications:

• High temperature environment
• Harsh Chemical environment
• Nuclear radiation resistant devices
• Down-hole sensing for oil and gas industry
• High Power Laser delivery
• Medical applications

Parameters of Standard Al-coated Fibers

Specifications

Cu-alloy Coated Silica Fibers

Our copper-alloy coated silica fibers are the optimal solution for applications in high temperature, vacuum and harsh environment conditions.

Cu-alloy coated fibers have all benefits of silica-silica fibers. Additional significant advantages include a superior mechanical strength and better fatigue resistance compared to polymer coated fibers.

The transmission range spans 220 to 2400nm depending on UV or NIR silica fiber core choice. The working temperature range is from -270°C to 600°C; humidity – up to 100%.

Main features

• Working temperatures up to 600°C
• Excellent mechanical strength and flexibility
• No outgassing under high vacuum conditions
• Solderable into connectors (epoxy-free option)
• Effective heat rejection along metal coating
• Steaming, ETO, steam, e-beam or gamma sterilizable

Applications

• High temperature environments
• Harsh chemical environments
• Nuclear radiation resistant devices
• Down-hole sensing for oil and gas industry
• High power laser delivery
• Medical applications
• Soldered fiber bundles

Specification of Cu-alloy Coated Fibers

Parameters of Standard Cu-alloy Coated Fibers

Chalcogenide IR-Glass Fiber (CIR Fiber)

Chalcogenide As-S glass fiber transmits IR-radiation in the spectral range of 1.1–6.5μm. High performance CIR core/clad fiber are drawn with core diameters span from 8µm to 500µm.

Advanced drawing process with double polymer jacket provides a superior mechanical strength and high flexibility of CIR- fibers.

Low optical losses and small absorption peaks over the mentioned spectral range ensure a successful use of CIR-fiber for a wide range of applications.

Features

• High transmittance in the range 1.1 – 6.5μm
• Low optical losses of about 0.2 – 0.3 dB/m at 2.5 – 4µm and 4.5 – 5µm
• Core/Clad structure with core diameters span from 8 to 500μm
• Double polymer coating for high flexibility

Applications

• Mid IR spectroscopy
• Flexible IR pyrometry
• Flexible IR-imaging Systems
• Power delivery for quantum cascade lasers

Fiber specification

CIR Infrared Optical Fiber Standard Cables

Chalcogenide Infra Red (CIR) (1.5 - 6μm) fiber is drawn in core/clad structure with double polymer coating and characterized by a low optical losses and high flexibility. Delivery is from stock or within few weeks ARO. All standard cables include PEEK-polymer protective jacket and SMA termination.

Parameters of standard Chalcogenide fibers

Specifications

Polycrystalline Infra Red Fibers (PIR – Fibers)

The development of specialty fibers for the Mid-Infrared region has resulted in a unique product - Core /

Clad Polycrystalline Infra-Red (PIR-) fibers. The PIR-fibers are non-toxic, very flexible, transparent across a broad spectral region 4 -18μm and capable of operating over the wide temperature range of 4K up to 420K. They are manufactured in a core/clad structure of superior quality from pure AgCl: AgBr solid solution crystals using an innovative vacuum extrusion method. They possess by no aging effect compared to an alternative bare core fiber. The range of PIR-fiber cables are available with a durable PEEK polymer jacket and terminations using either an SMA - type connector with a Ti or polymer ferrule or special one, manufactured on customer request. A wide variety of different optical coupling units can also be designed & fabricated for specialized customer requirements.

Fiber Features:

• High transmittance in the range 3 – 18μm
• Low optical losses of about 0.2 – 0.3 dB/m in the range 9 – 13µm
• Core/Clad structure with core diameters span from 240 to 860μm
• Minimal aging effect
• Non-hydroscopic and non-toxic

Applications

• Mid IR spectroscopy
• Flexible IR pyrometry
• Flexible IR-Imaging systems
• Power delivery for quantum cascade Lasers
• Power delivery for CO and CO2 Lasers

Parameters of Standard Polycrystalline fibers

Specifications

PIR-fibers are protected by a loose PEEK-jacket (PolyEtherEtherKetone) to provide stiff, flexible and hermetic protection against mechanical, photoinduced and chemical damage over a wide temperature range up to 250°C.

Standard Cable termination with a special Ti-ferrule SMA-connector:

• for low power (spectroscopy & radiometry) applications;
• for high laser power delivery - free standing fiber end ;
• standard cable length - 1m & 2m.

PIR-fiber end-surface treatment:

• Cutting low cost, high performance - standard;
• Polishing for special application, including AR-coating - on request;
• SMART for reduced reflection of high CO2-laser intensity - on request.

Options

• accessory kits for remote spectroscopy with FTIR, QCL and TDL-spectrometers;
• pig-tailing of IR-detectors: TE- & LN-cooled MCT, PbSe, thermopiles, etc.

Diverse Methods of AR-coating and SMART-treatment

Comparison of Standard and Spectral PIR-fibers

Comparison of CIR- and PIR-Fibers

Typical transmission spectra of 1.5m long PIR-900/1000 fiber (red) versus CIR-750/850 fiber (blue) (includes reflection & coupling losses at fiber ends without AR coating and some absorption bands of atmospheric moisture, etc.)

Typical specification of CIR- and PIR-fibers

Comparison of PIR- and CIR-Fibers Transmission Spectra for 1.5m length