US3938974A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of producing optical wave guide fibers
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1974-04-22
•
Granted: 1976-02-17
•
Expires: 1994-04-22
Abstract
Abstract Procedures are disclosed for producing both core-cladding optical fibers and self-focusing optical fibers from porous germinate and/or silicate glasses obtained after phase separation and removal of the soluble phase. A glass which is separable into at least two phases one of which is soluble, is heated to cause phase separation. The soluble phase is leached out removing undesired impurities. The pores are collapsed and this glass is used to produce cores and/or cladding layers, or self focusing fibers. According to one aspect of the invention, preforms of the porous glass have their interconnected pores stuffed with a dopant. In the production of core-cladding optical fibers, the dopant modifies the index of refraction of the core and/or cladding so that the index of refraction of the core is greater than that of the cladding. The control of this index of refraction can be accomplished by addition of non silicate network formers such as GeO 2 to the original melt before phase separation. These network formers will stay in the insoluble phase. In producing self-focusing fibers, the dopant may be non-uniformly deposited in order to produce a radial gradient in the index of refraction, or sodium or potassium ions may be ion exchanged into the glass for a portion of a dopant containing lithium or thallium to produce such an index of refraction gradient.
Inventors
- 👤 Pedro B. Macedo
- 👤 Theodore A. Litovitz
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 04:55
CPC Classifications
C; C03; C03B; C03B37/00; C03B37/01; C03B37/012; C03B37/014; C03B37/016; C03C; C03C13/00; C03C13/005; C03C13/04; C03C13/045; C03C15/00; C03C21/00; C03C23/00; C03C23/0095; C03B2201/00; C03B2201/06; C03B2201/08; C03B2201/10; C03B2201/30; C03B2201/32; C03B2201/34; C03B2201/50; C03B2201/54; G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/02; G02B6/028; G02B6/0281
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 39
Claim 1
Independent Claim
100 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, the improvement comprising forming said core by heat treating a base glass which is separable into at least a soluble phase and an insoluble phase to cause phase separation, leaching out the soluble phase and impurities to obtain an porous glass, thermally consolidating the glass to seal said pores, drawing the resultant glass into a fiber, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
100 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, the improvement comprising forming said core by heat treating a base glass which is separable into at least a soluble phase and an insoluble phase to cause phase separation, leaching out the soluble phase and impurities to obtain an porous glass, thermally consolidating the glass to seal said pores, drawing the resultant glass into a fiber, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said base glass contains a finite amount of germania sufficient to increase the index of refraction of the resulting core.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
87 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass where the base glass is heat treated to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and the soluble phase is leached out, the improvement which comprises heating said insoluble phase to substantially completely remove chemically combined water therefrom, thermally consolidating the glass at a higher temperature to seal said pores, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
87 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass where the base glass is heat treated to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and the soluble phase is leached out, the improvement which comprises heating said insoluble phase to substantially completely remove chemically combined water therefrom, thermally consolidating the glass at a higher temperature to seal said pores, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method according to claim 3, wherein said heating step is carried out at about 100°-300°C below the thermal consolidation temperature.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
89 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass including heat treating said base glass to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and leaching out the soluble phase, the improvement which comprises oxidizing transition metal impurities in the base glass to their highest oxidation states prior to phase separation, thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores in said glass, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
89 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass including heat treating said base glass to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and leaching out the soluble phase, the improvement which comprises oxidizing transition metal impurities in the base glass to their highest oxidation states prior to phase separation, thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores in said glass, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
98 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass including heat treating said base glass to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and leaching out the soluble phase, the improvement which comprises treating a porous glass having interconnected pores resulting from the leaching step to change the oxidation state of at least one transition metal impurity present therein, thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores in said glass, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
98 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass including heat treating said base glass to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and leaching out the soluble phase, the improvement which comprises treating a porous glass having interconnected pores resulting from the leaching step to change the oxidation state of at least one transition metal impurity present therein, thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores in said glass, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method according to claim 6, wherein said impurity is present in the matrix of the porous glass.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method according to claim 6, wherein said impurity is present in a dopant deposited in the pores of the porous glass.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
99 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass including heat treating said base glass to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and leaching out the soluble, the improvement which comprises removing from within the pores of the insoluble phase colloidal silica or colloidal germania produced as a decomposition product of the removed soluble phase during the leaching step, thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores in said glass, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
99 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide from a phase separable base glass including heat treating said base glass to cause phase separation into at least two immiscible liquids comprising an insoluble phase and a soluble phase, and leaching out the soluble, the improvement which comprises removing from within the pores of the insoluble phase colloidal silica or colloidal germania produced as a decomposition product of the removed soluble phase during the leaching step, thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores in said glass, and applying a cladding layer to produce said wave guide.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
89 words
In a method for producing an optical wave guide fiber wherein a preform is drawn to produce the fiber, the improvement which comprises producing a preform of a porous silicate or germinate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, radially non-uniformly depositing a dopant capable of varying the index of refraction of said glass within said pores to vary the index of refraction, and thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores, whereby when a fiber is drawn from said preform, the fiber has an index of refraction which varies radially.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
89 words
In a method for producing an optical wave guide fiber wherein a preform is drawn to produce the fiber, the improvement which comprises producing a preform of a porous silicate or germinate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, radially non-uniformly depositing a dopant capable of varying the index of refraction of said glass within said pores to vary the index of refraction, and thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores, whereby when a fiber is drawn from said preform, the fiber has an index of refraction which varies radially.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
14 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein said preform is a borosilicate glass.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
44 words
In a method according to claim 10, further comprising heating said glass to produce from said dopant at least one oxide selected from the group consisting of alkali metal oxides, alkaline earth oxides, boric oxide, germania, alumina, titanium dioxide, lead oxide, and bismuth oxide.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
32 words
In a method according to claim 12, wherein the oxide is germania deposited in the pores in an amount of about 5-30 weight percent based on the initial weight of the preform.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
26 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein said dopant is deposited within said pores by regulated diffusion of dopant into the pores of said preform.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
27 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein said dopant is deposited within said pores by precipitating dopant from a solution into the pores of said preform.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
19 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein said dopant is deposited within said pores by chemical vapor deposition.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
40 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein said dopant is deposited by placing dopant within pores adjacent the surface of the preform, and heating the preform to diffuse a portion of the dopant throughout the remainder of the preform.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
55 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein the dopant is deposited by initially distributing dopant relatively uniformly throughout said preform, said dopant being one which increases the index of refraction, and selectively leaching a portion of the dopant from the preform so that the concentration of dopant increases towards the center of the preform.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
74 words
In a method according to claim 10, wherein said glass is a porous silicate glass and wherein said dopant contains thallium, and further comprising drawing said preform to produce a fiber, ion exchanging the doped fiber with ions selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium ions to replace a portion of said dopant with said ions to obtain a fiber whose index of refraction increases radially inwardly from the outer surface thereof.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
11 words
A method according to claim 10, wherein said dopant contains lithium.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 19, wherein said porous silicate glass is a borosilicate glass, and wherein the fibers are ion exchanged by passing the fiber through a molten salt bath containing the sodium or potassium ions in a continuous fashion immediately following the drawing step.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
76 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, wherein the improvement comprises forming said cladding layer of a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, depositing a dopant within said pores to control the index of refraction of said cladding layer, and thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
76 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, wherein the improvement comprises forming said cladding layer of a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, depositing a dopant within said pores to control the index of refraction of said cladding layer, and thermally consolidating the glass to seal the pores.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
46 words
In a method according to claim 22, further comprising heating said glass to produce from said dopant an oxide selected from the group consisting of alkali metal oxides, alkali earth oxides, boric oxide, germania, alumina, titanium dioxide, lead oxide, bismuth oxide, ceric oxide, and cerous oxide.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
36 words
In a method according to claim 22, wherein the core is fused silica, and wherein the dopant is boric oxide in an amount of about 1-30 weight percent based on the initial weight of the preform.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
52 words
In a method according to claim 22, wherein said core is a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, and further comprising depositing a dopant different from the dopant in the cladding layer into the pores of the porous glass of the core, and thereafter uniting the cladding layer and the core.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
74 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, wherein the improvement comprises forming said core of a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, depositing a dopant within said pores to control the index of refraction of said core and thermally consolidating said core to close the pores.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
74 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, wherein the improvement comprises forming said core of a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, depositing a dopant within said pores to control the index of refraction of said core and thermally consolidating said core to close the pores.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method according to claim 26, wherein said dopant elevates the index of refraction of said core and is selected from the group consisting of alkali metal oxides, alkali earth oxides, germania, alumina, titanium oxide, cerous oxide, and ceric oxide.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
63 words
In a method of producing an optical wave guide, the improvement which comprises producing the wave guide of a porous silicate or germinate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, non-uniformly depositing a dopant within said pores, and thermally consolidating said pores in such a fashion that the wave guide has a non-uniform index of refraction which varies along a dimension of the wave guide.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
63 words
In a method of producing an optical wave guide, the improvement which comprises producing the wave guide of a porous silicate or germinate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, non-uniformly depositing a dopant within said pores, and thermally consolidating said pores in such a fashion that the wave guide has a non-uniform index of refraction which varies along a dimension of the wave guide.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
79 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, wherein the improvement comprises forming said cladding layer of a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, removing colloidal silica from within said pores to lower the index of refraction of said cladding layer, and then thermally consolidating said cladding layer to seal the pores.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
79 words
In a method for the production of an optical wave guide comprising a cladding layer and a glass core with an index of refraction larger than the index of refraction of said cladding layer, wherein the improvement comprises forming said cladding layer of a porous silicate glass having interconnected pores therethrough, removing colloidal silica from within said pores to lower the index of refraction of said cladding layer, and then thermally consolidating said cladding layer to seal the pores.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2106744A
Cited
US3380817A
Cited
US3549524A
Cited
US3647406A
Cited
US3611188A
Cited
US3737292A
Cited
US3792987A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1979-02-16 | 1979-08-18 | 1980-02-17 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1983-02-16 | 1983-08-18 | 1984-02-17 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1987-02-16 | 1987-08-18 | 1988-02-17 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |