Hermetically sealed optical fibers
AssigneeAT&T Bell Laboratories
InventorsFrank V. DiMarcello, Richard G. Huff, Paul J. Lemaire, Kenneth L. Walker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hermetically coated optical fiber is produced by contacting a hot fiber with an organic material such as acetylene. The heat of the fiber causes decomposition and results in a hermetic, carbonaceous coating. This coating is essentially impermeable to both water and hydrogen.
Claims29
A process for producing a coated optical fiber comprising the steps of drawing a fiber from a heated glass body and contacting said fiber with a gas to induce the formation of a coating on said fiber characterized in that said gas comprises a carbonaceous composition, and said contact occurs when said fiber has a temperature sufficiently high to induce a reaction at the surface of said fiber that results in the formation of an adherent carbon coating comprising a crosslinked carbon network and is sufficiently low to avoid the formation of a diamond-like coating.
A process for producing a coated optical fiber comprising the steps of drawing a fiber from a heated glass body and contacting said fiber with a gas to induce formation of an hermetic coating characterized in that a getterer is introduced to remove hydrogen or water trapped by said coating.
A process for producing a structure comprising a coated optical fiber said process comprising the step of drawing a fiber including a core and a cladding from a heated glass body and coating said fiber characterized in that a getterer for hydrogen or water is introduced into the periphery of said cladding.
A coated fiber comprising a glass fiber capable of guiding electromagnetic radiation and a coating characterized in that said coating is non-diamond-like, comprises a crosslinked carbon network and has an hermeticity such that the loss measured at 1.24 .mu.m in 1 atm. of hydrogen and at the use temperature does not increase more than 0.05 dB/km in a time period shorter than 1/140 of the desired use period and such that the static fatigue, n, value is greater than 70.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.