Small-bore fluorocarbon polymer-coated silver hollow glass waveguides for Er:YAG laser light

Several types of fluorocarbon polymer (FCP)-coated silver hollow glass waveguides have been fabricated for Er:YAG laser delivery by using the improved wet chemical technique and dynamic coating procedure. The straight losses of 2 m long 700 μmØ and 540 μmØ waveguides are 0.4 and 1.0 dB, respectively. The transmission losses of these waveguides are below 1.5 dB even when the waveguides are bent to 180° with the bending radius of either 20 or 15 cm. The waveguides with the small diameters of 320 and 200 μm have also been developed for clinical treatment, which exhibit low enough transmission losses for Er:YAG laser light.