Method and apparatus for forming metal coating on glass fiber

Abstract

Glass fibers employed as optical waveguides are provided with a metal coating by passing the glass fiber, following its formation, through a chamber into which a metal-containing compound is introduced. A source of radiant energy, e.g., a CO.sub.2 laser, is introduced by means that are controllably positioned from the glass fiber, e.g., an infrared-transmitting fiber such as thallium bromo-iodide. The radiant energy is sufficient to cause dissociation of the metal-containing compound on the glass fiber surface so as to form the metal coating on the glass fiber without coating the rest of the apparatus. Any metal compound may be used such as metal carbonyls, metal halides, metal alkyls, metal aryls, metal olefins, metal esters, metal nitro compounds, metal hydrides and combinations and mixtures thereof.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.