Method of doping silica glass with an alkali metal, and optical fiber precursor formed therefrom

Abstract

A method of making an optical fiber precursor includes generating vapors from an alkali metal source comprising compound containing oxygen and one or more alkali metals and applying the vapors to a surface of a glass article comprising silica at a temperature that promotes diffusion of the alkali metal into the surface of the glass article. An optical fiber has a core comprising silica and an alkali metal oxide of the form X2O, where X is selected from the group consisting of K, Na, Li, Cs, and Rb, wherein a concentration of the alkali metal oxide along a length of the core is uniform.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.