Mid-Infrared Fluoride Glass Fibers – A Short Review

The mid-infrared band has a wide range of applications in the fields of gas detection, aerospace, countermeasures, medical surgery, etc.. As a result, a large number of mid-infrared materials are investigated. Compared with other mid-infrared materials, fluoride glass fibers have attracted much attention due to its ability of flexible multidirectional transmission, low phonon energy and excellent mid-infrared spectral performance. As a consequence, we introduced the research status and problems of different fluoride glass fibers such as fluorozirconate glass fiber, fluoindinate glass fiber and fluoroaluminate glass fiber. We represented the inside structure, physical and chemical properties, and spectral properties between various glass components. We highlighted the fiber lasers in different wavelengths and supercontinuum laser scources covering different wavelength bands based on various rare-earth ions doping fluoride glass fiber. In addition, we also prospected the future research direction and preparation process of fluoride glass fiber.