Selenide and telluride glasses for mid-infrared bio-sensing

Fiber Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy (FEWS) is an efficient way to collect optical spectra in situ, in real time and even, hopefully, in vivo. Thanks to selenide glass fibers, it is possible to get such spectra over the whole mid-infrared range from 2 to 12 μm. This working window gives access to the fundamental vibration band of most of biological molecules. Moreover selenide glasses are stable and easy to handle, and it is possible to shape the fiber and create a tapered sensing head to drastically increase the sensitivity. Within the past decades, numerous multi-disciplinary studies have been conducted in collaboration with the City Hospital of Rennes. Clinical trials have provided very promising results in biology and medicine which have led to the creation in 2011 of the DIAFIR Company dedicated to the commercialization of fiber-based infrared biosensors. In addition, new glasses based on tellurium only have been recently developed, initially in the framework of the Darwin mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA). These glasses transmit light further into the far-infrared and could also be very useful for medical applications in the near future. Indeed, they permit to reach the vibrational bands of biomolecules laying from 12 to 16 μm where selenide glasses do not transmit light anymore. However, while Se is a very good glass former, telluride glasses tend to crystallize easily due to the metallic nature of Te bonds. Hence, further work is under way to stabilize the glass composition for fibers drawing and to lower the optical losses for improving their sensitivity as bio-sensors.