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US 11,753,327 B2Granted
RF plasma optical fiber annealing apparatuses, systems, and methods of using the same
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsDaniel Robert Boughton, Kenneth Edward Hrdina, Stefan Wolfgang Kramel, Christopher Scott Thomas
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Abstract
Methods, apparatuses and systems of manufacturing an optical fiber are disclosed herein. The methods may include heating an optical preform in a draw furnace, drawing an optical fiber from the optical preform, cooling the optical fiber with a slow cooling device, and annealing the optical fiber by passing the optical fiber through an RF plasma heating apparatus.
Claims13
A method of manufacturing an optical fiber, the method comprising:
- heating an optical preform in a draw furnace;
- drawing an optical fiber from the optical preform;
- and
- annealing the optical fiber by passing the optical fiber through an RF inductively coupled plasma heating apparatus configured to form a cyclonic structure of plasma that tangentially heats a length of the optical fiber at a heating rate of 5,000° C. per second (° C./s) or greater as the optical fiber passes through the plasma and a cooling device configured to cool the optical fiber, the RF inductively coupled plasma heating apparatus comprises an inductor having one or more coils wrapped around a length of a plasma containment tube for containing the cyclonic structure of plasma and permitting the passage of the optical fiber through the cyclonic structure of plasma.
1 more element
A method of processing an optical fiber comprising:
- conveying an optical fiber at a speed greater than 30 m/s, the conveying comprising heating the optical fiber from a first temperature to a second temperature, the heating comprising exposing the optical fiber to a plasma generated by an RF inductively coupled plasma heating apparatus configured to form a cyclonic structure of plasma that tangentially heats a length of the optical fiber at a heating rate of 5,000° C. per second (° C./s) or greater as the optical fiber passes through the plasma, the RF inductively coupled plasma heating apparatus comprises an inductor having one or more coils wrapped around a length of a plasma containment tube for containing the cyclonic structure of plasma and permitting the passage of the optical fiber through the cyclonic structure of plasma.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.