Abstract

A vacuum-cored hollow waveguide has been found to transmit 1064-nm, $Q$-switched Nd:YAG laser pulses. With this scheme, laser-induced air breakdown was completely suppressed, and the laser-induced damage threshold of the waveguide’s inner coating was significantly increased. With a 1-m-long, 1-mm inner-diameter, cyclic olefin polymer–coated silver hollow waveguide, the maximum transmitted laser energy was as great as $158 \mathrm{mJ}/\mathrm{pulse}$ $\left(20.1 \mathrm{J}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2\right)$, at a repetition rate of 10 Hz in a 90°-bent waveguide condition. The corresponding transmitted peak laser power was 17.6 MW. With the transmitted laser pulses, deep ablation of myocardium tissues was demonstrated in vitro.

© 2000 Optical Society of America

High-power Nd:YAG laser picosecond pulse delivery by a polymer-coated silver hollow-glass waveguide

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