Optical energy transmitting devices and method of making same

Claim 1

AN OPITCAL DEVICE FOR SUE IN EXCITING AND PROPAGATING A SINGLE READILY DISTINGUISHABLE DIELECTRIC WAVE GUIDE MODE IN OPTICAL ENERGY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PREDETERMINED WAVELENGTHS OF LIGH BEING SUPPLIED THERETO, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A THIN ELONGATED FILAMENT HAVING A GENERALLY CIRCULAR CENTRAL CORE OF VERY SMALL CROSS-SECTIONAL SIZE AND FORMED OF A TRANSPARENT MATERIAL HAVING A KNOW REFRACTIVE INDEX, A CLADDING OF TRANSPARENT MATERIAL COMPLETELY SURROUNDING SAID CORE THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH AND IN OPTICAL CONTACT THEREWITH, AND HAVING A RELATIVELY LOWER REFRACTIVE INDEX, THE MEAN DIAMETER OF SAID CORE BEING OF SUCH A SIZE AS TO FALL WITHIN A RANGE OF SIZES CORRESPONDING APPROXIMTELY TO THE SHORTEST WAVELENGTH OF LIGHT TO BE TRANSMITTED THEREBY AND UP TO APPROXIMATELY FIVE TIMES THE LONGEST WAVELENGTH THEREOF, AND THE TICKNESS OF SAID CLADDING BEING AT LEAST EQUAL TO TWO MICRONS, THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID FILAMENT HAVING OPTICALLY FINISHED END SURFACES FORMED THEREON SO AS TO READILY TRANSMIT LIGHT IMPINGING THEREON, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REFRACTIVE INDICES OF SAID CORE AND SAID CLADDING BEING SUCH IN RELATION TO THE MEAN DIAMETER OF SAID CORE AND THE MEAN WAVELENGTH OF THE LIGHT TO BE TRANSMITTED THEREBY THAT SAID FILAMENT WILL PROPAGATE A READILY DISTINGUISHABLE DIELECTRIC WAVE GUIDE MODE OF OPTICAL ENERGY WHICH WHEN DESIGNATED, MNM, AND WHEREIN THE SUB-LETTER M, INDICATIVE OF THE NUMBER OF GENERALLY CONCENTRIC LIGHT RINGS OF THE MODE PATTERN, HAS A NUMERICAL VALUE WITHIN A RANGE OF VALUES FROM 1 TO 53, AND WHEREIN THE SUB-LETTER N, INDICATIVE OF THE NUBMER OF DIVIDIONS OF LIGHT IN A HALF CIRCLE PORTION OF ANY ONE OF SAID LIGHT RIGHS, HAS A NUMERICAL VALUE WITHIN A RANGE OF VALUES FROM 3 TO 13.