US 4,895,813 A · Method for fabricating devices including multicomponent metal halide glasses and the resulting devices

Abstract

A new method for fabricating devices which include multicomponent metal halide glasses, e.g., multicomponent metal halide glass optical fibers, is disclosed. In accordance with the inventive method, a multicomponent metal halide glass body, essentially free of crystallites, is produced by cooling essentially every portion of a melt incorporated into the glass body at a quench rate which is necessarily greater than or equal to about 10 Kelvins per second (K/sec). This necessary quench rate is achieved by successively quenching relatively small portions of the melt, e.g., thin layers or droplets of melt material, having relatively small cross-sectional dimensions.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A method for fabricating a device, comprising the steps of:

forming a melt having a composition which includes three or more metal halides;
converting at least a part of said melt into a solid glass body having at least one cross-sectional dimension greater than or equal to about 1 centimeter;
and
completing the fabrication of said device, said completing step including the step of incorporating at least a portion of the material of said glass body into said device, Characterized In That
said converting step includes the step of cooling essentially every portion of said part at a rate which is both greater than about 10 Kelvins per second and chosen to substantially preclude the formation of crystallites in said glass body.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

07/103,229Filed 30 Sep 1987

Granted

23 Jan 1990

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

C03C 3/325
Non-oxide glass compositions, e.g. binary or ternary halides, sulfides or nitrides of germanium, selenium or tellurium: fluoride glasses
C03B 37/01265
Manufacture of preforms for drawing fibres or filaments: starting entirely or partially from molten glass, e.g. by dipping a preform in a melt
C03B 37/01277
Starting entirely or partially from molten glass, e.g. by dipping a preform in a melt: by projecting or spraying the melt, e.g. as droplets, on a…
C03B 2201/82
Non-oxide glasses or glass-type compositions: fluoride glasses, e.g. ZBLAN glass

Method for fabricating devices including multicomponent metal halide glasses and the resulting devices

Life of this patent

Method for fabricating devices including multicomponent metal halide glasses and the resulting devices

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims7