Abstract:
A method for deposition glass soot for making an optical fiber preform. A fuel and a glass precursor are flowed to a burner flame forming glass soot which is deposited onto a glass target. By first depositing an insulating layer of glass soot with a low velocity burner flame, the amount of water which may be adsorbed into the surface of the glass target can be reduced. Thereafter, the flame velocity may be increased to increase the deposition rate of the glass soot without significantly increasing the concentration of water incorporated into the glass target.
Abstract:
The invention concerns a quartz glass body for an optical component for the transmission of UV radiation with a wavelength of 250 nm and less, especially for a wavelength of 157 nm, as well as a process for the manufacture of the quartz glass body where fine quartz glass particles are formed by flame hydrolysis of a silicon compound, deposited and vitrified. Suitability of a quartz glass as represented by high base transmission and radiation resistance depends on structural properties caused by local stoichiometric deviations, and on the chemical composition. The quartz glass body according to the inventions is distinguished by a uniform base transmission (relative change of base transmission ≦1%) in the wavelength range from 155 nm to 250 nm (radiation penetration depth of 10 mm) of at least 80%, a low OH content (less than 10 ppm by weight) and a glass structure substantially free from oxygen defect centers. A quartz glass body of this kind is manufactured by a process which allows bulk embedding of hydrogen or oxygen into the glass network in that at least a two stage heat treatment takes place at temperatures ranging from 850° C. to 1600° C. before the vitrification, the last stage comprising sintering at a temperature between 1300° C. and 1600° C. in an atmosphere containing hydrogen or oxygen, or a nonflammable mixture of these substances.
Abstract:
A hydrous silica gel is dehydrated by freezing, thawing, and removing water separated by thawing, thereby yielding silica particles. In addition, the silica particles thus formed is washed and fired, thereby producing a synthetic quartz glass power. A water glass is dealkalized, an oxidizing agent and an acid are added, the mixture thus formed is passed through a hydrogen type cation exchange resin, the aqueous silica solution thus formed is then gelled, and the gelled material is then washed and fired, thereby producing a synthetic quartz powder. Silica is sequentially held for a predetermined time at each temperature range of 150 to 400null C., 500 to 700null C., and 1,100 to 1,300null C., thereby producing a quartz glass.
Abstract:
A cylindrical glass body having a low water content centerline region and method of manufacturing such a cylindrical glass body for use in the manufacture of optical waveguide fiber is disclosed. The centerline region of the cylindrical glass body has a water content sufficiently low such that an optical waveguide fiber made from the cylindrical glass body of the present invention exhibits an optical attenuation of less than about 0.35 dB/km, and preferably less than about 0.31 dB/km at a measured wavelength of 1380 nm. A low water content plug used in the manufacture of such a cylindrical glass body, an optical waveguide fiber having a low water peak, and an optical fiber communication system incorporating such an optical waveguide fiber is also disclosed.
Abstract:
A synthetic silica glass having a high transmittance for vacuum ultraviolet rays, for example F2 excimer laser beam with a wavelength of 157 nm, a high uniformity and a high durability and useful for ultraviolet ray-transparent optical glass materials is produced from a high-purity silicon compound, for example silicon tetrachloride, by heat treating an accumulated porous silica material at a temperature not high enough to convert the porous silica material to a transparent silica glass in an inert gas atmosphere for a time sufficient to cause the OH groups to be condensed and removed from the glass, and exhibits substantially no content of impurities other than OH group a difference between highest and lowest fictional temperatures of 50° C. or less and a transmittance of 157 nm ultraviolet rays through a 10 mm optical path of 60% or more, and optically a OH group content of 1 to 70 ppm, a Cl content less than 1 ppm, a total content of impurity metals of 50 ppb or less, a content of each individual impurity metal less than 10 ppb, and an ultraviolet ray-transmittance at 172 to 200 nm of 40% or more even after the glass is exposed to an irradiation of ultraviolet rays at 160 to 300 nm for one hour.
Abstract:
A singlemode optical fiber 700 having very low loss at 1385 nm, and a practical method for making same are disclosed. A core rod 20 is fabricated using vapor axial deposition to have a deposited cladding/core ratio (D/d) that is less than 7.5. The core rod is dehydrated in a chlorine- or fluorine-containing atmosphere at about 1200.degree. C. to reduce the amount of OH present to less than 0.8 parts per billion by weight, and then consolidated in a helium atmosphere at about 1500.degree. C. to convert the porous soot body into a glass. The consolidated core rod is elongated using an oxygen-hydrogen torch that creates a layer of OH ions on the surface of the rod that are largely removed by plasma etching. Finally, the core rod is installed in a glass tube 40 having a suitably low OH content. Thereafter, the tube is collapsed onto the rod to create a preform 60. Conventional methods are employed for drawing an optical fiber from the preform and applying one or more protective coatings 75, 76. The disclosed method is suitable for commercial production of low-OH fiber. Significantly, the fiber's loss at 1385 nm is reduced to a level that is less than its loss at 1310 nm, thereby rendering the entire wavelength region 1200-1600 nm suitable for optical transmission. In particular, wave-division-multiplex systems are now available to transmit optical signals over distances greater than 10 km in the wavelength region between 1360 nm and 1430 nm.
Abstract:
A synthetic silica glass article made by hydrolyzing an alkoxysilane and thermally sintering the resulting silica; this synthetic silica glass article has a viscosity of not lower than 10.sup.10 poise at 140.degree. C., and contains, as metallic impurities, less than 1 ppm at Al, less than 0.2 ppm of Fe, less than 0.2 ppm of Na, less than 0.2 ppm of K, less than 0.01 ppm of Li, less than 0.2 ppm of Ca, less than 0.02 ppm of Ti, less than 0.01 ppm of B, less than 0.01 of P, less than 0.01 ppm of As.
Abstract:
In the manufacture of preforms for optical fibres, the materials of the core (.alpha.) and of the light-conducting cladding layer (.beta..sub.1) are previously deposited from the gaseous phase. Deposition time is here considerably reduced in that only the materials of the core (.alpha.) and a part of the light-conducting cladding layer (.beta..sub.1) are deposited from the gaseous phase and the remaining light-conducting cladding material (.beta..sub.2 +.beta..sub.3) is supplied as pre-formed tubes of cladding material.
Abstract:
A method of producing a uniform silica glass block comprising using silica powder as a raw material, and treating it at high temperature and pressure by a hot press and/or a hot isostatic press in vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere, preferably with a capsule of silica glass or a high-melting point metal. By conducting calcination in fluorine, chlorine or their compound gas and then in oxygen, the OH group content of the silica glass can be reduced dramatically.
Abstract:
A semiproduct for use in the manufacture of light conducting fibers comprising a core of synthetic quartz glass having a thickness of 6 to 400 mm, the quartz glass containing less than 10 ppm hydroxyl ions and having, in the near infrared spectral range, an optical loss totaling less than 4 dB/km, measured in the mass, the core being fused with a jacket having a wall thickness of 2 to 20 mm and consisting essentially of synthetic quartz glass containing more than 4,000 ppm of fluorine, the jacket having a length of at least 200 mm; a method of producing the same and light conducting fibers derived therefrom.