Bismuth-doped Mg — Al silicate glasses and fibres

This paper compares the optical properties of bulk bismuth-doped Mg — Al silicate glasses prepared in an iridium crucible to those of optical fibres prepared by the powder-in-tube method and having a core identical in composition to the glasses. The bulk glasses and fibres are shown to be similar in luminescence properties. The optical loss in the fibres in their IR luminescence band is about one order of magnitude lower than that in the crucible-melted glasses. The level of losses in the fibres and their luminescence properties suggest that such fibres can be made to lase near 1.15 μm.