Fabrication of optical fibers
AssigneeNational Research Development Corporation
InventorsRobert J. Mears, Laurence Reekie, Simon B. Poole, David N. Payne
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Abstract
A method of making a preform for drawing optical fibers includes the steps of depositing a dopant material 3 in a dopant carrier chamber 1, heating the dopant material to cause it to vaporise at a predetermined rate, depositing from a mixture of a source material (GeCl.sub.4, SiO.sub.4, O.sub.2) and said vaporised dopant a mixture of solid components 8 and fusing said solid components to form a doped glass.
Claims8
A method of fabricating a preform for the manufacture of optical fibres incorporating a doped glass in which a dopant material is deposited in a dopant chamber and is subsequently vaporized from said chamber and deposited on the inner surface of a tubular glass member, comprising the sequential steps of:
- heating the dopant chamber to fuse said dopant to the chamber wall,
- subsequently heating said chamber to cause said dopant to vaporize at a predetermined rate,
- passing a gaseous source material through said dopant chamber to mix said dopant material with said source material,
- depositing from the mixture of said source material and said dopant material a mixture of solid components on said inner surface, and
- fusing said solid components on said inner surface to form a doped glass for said preform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.