Dispersion phenomena in hollow alumina waveguides

Significant variations in the attenuation characteristics of hollow alumina waveguides (suitable for use in the manufacture of CO2 waveguide lasers) have been measured over the 9-11 micron waveband. Existing waveguide transmission theory has been successfully used to explain the qualitative nature of the observed experimental results by taking into account the effects of dispersion due to active lattice absorption bands in alumina. The surprising conclusion of the work is that the major variations in attenuation are a result of a complete change in the guiding nature of the waveguide at approximately 10 microns. At this point, the nature of the waveguide changes from being 'leaky' at shorter wavelengths to exhibiting attenuated total internal reflection at longer wavelengths. This results in there being a distinct difference in attenuation characteristics for the two main laser emission bands centered at 9.6 and 10.6 microns, respectively.