Delivery of F₂-excimer laser light by aluminum hollow fibers

A hollow fiber composed of a glass-tube substrate and an aluminum thin film coated upon the inside of the tube delivers F₂-excimer laser light. A smooth, aluminum thin film was deposited by using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using dimethylethylamine:alane (DMEAA) as the precursor. It was shown that the transmission loss of the fiber with a 1.0-mm inner diameter was as low as 0.5 dB/m for the fiber with 1.0-mm diameter when the bore of the fiber is pressurized with an inert gas to remove the absorption of air. When the fiber is bent at the radius of 30 cm, the additional loss was 1.6 dB.