Method of preparing doped silica glass
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsMasanobu Motoki, Nobutaka Matsuo, Sadao Kanbe, Haruo Osafune, Yoshitaka Itoh
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Abstract
A sol-gel method of preparing doped glass articles is provided. The glass is formed by preparing a sol solution containing hydrolyzed silicon alkoxide and ultrafine particle silica. The sol solution can also include a dopant. The sol solution is gelled in a container, dried and sintered to yield the doped silica glass articles.
Claims45
A method of preparing a doped silica glass article, comprising:
- hydrolyzing silicon alkoxide;
- adding ultrafine particle silica to the hydrolyzed solution to obtain a sol solution;
- adjusting the pH of the sol solution to a pre-determined value of less than about 7.0;
- placing the sol solution into a container;
- gelling the sol solution to a wet gel;
- drying the wet gel to a dry gel;
- sintering the dry gel to yield the doped silica glass article;
- and
- including at least one dopant.
A method of preparing a cylindrical doped silica glass article, comprising:
- hydrolyzing silicon alkoxide;
- adding ultrafine particle silica to the hydrolyzed solution to obtain a sol solution;
- adjusting the pH of the sol solution to a pre-determined value of less than about 7.0;
- placing the sol solution into a hydrophobic cylindrical container;
- gelling the sol solution to a wet gel;
- drying the wet gel to a dry gel;
- sintering the dry gel to yield the doped silica glass article;
- and
- including at least one metal alkoxide dopant having the formula M(OR).sub.x, wherein R is an alkyl group, M is a metal and x is an integer equal to the valence of the metal.
In a method of preparing a doped cylindrical silica glass article, by adding ultrafine particle silica into a hydrolyzed solution of silicon alkoxide, adjusting the pH of the sol solution to a value of less than about 7.0, gelling the sol solution to a wet gel, drying the wet gel to a dry gel, and sintering the dry gel to a silica glass,
- the improvement which comprises adding an effective amount of a metal alkoxide dopant having the general formula M(OR).sub.x, wherein M is the metal, R is an alkyl group and x is an integer representing the valence of the metal to the article to alter the refractive index of the glass to a desired value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.