A survey on low phonon energy glasses and fibers for photonic applications

In recent years there is an increasing interest in Low Phonon Energy (LPE) glasses and fibers, not only for the mid-infrared, their native domain, but also for rare-earth doped fiber amplifiers in TBit/s telecommunications outside the EDFA bands and for upconversion fiber lasers emitting in the visible and the UV. A survey is given on the different LPE laser host glasses and fibers, their properties, virtues and drawbacks in view of the intended applications.