Single-mode fluorotellurite glass fiber

•A single-mode fluorotellurite glass fiber was reported for the first time.•Fluorotellurite glass fiber is of low loss of ∼1.91 dB/m at 1550 nm.•The infrared window is extended from 2.8 μm to 4.2 μm.•The fiber is with large effective nonlinear parameter γ of 236.7 W−1 km−1 at 1550 nm.

By multi-stage rod-in-tube fiber drawing process, a single-mode fluorotellurite glass fiber was fabricated and reported for the first time. Benefiting from chemical–physical dehydration process to remove water and OH− groups, the propagation loss was decreased to 1.9 dB/m at 1550 nm and the infrared window is extended from 2.8 μm to 4.2 μm, i.e. a new kind of mid-infrared glass fiber. The fiber is with a small core of 3.52 μm in diameter to meet single-mode condition, and the effective nonlinear parameter γ was estimated to be 236.7 W−1 km−1 at 1550 nm by using continuous-wave self-phase modulation method. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.