Optical fiber feedthrough
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorsKathleen S. Abbott, Michael J. Hodgson, Brian M. Macdonald, David R. Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical fiber feedthrough comprising a glass seal for sealing the optical fiber within a metal sleeve. The fiber is held in a fixed position with respect to the sleeve while a glass solder, preferably an annular preform, is heated to its glass transition temperature and then cooled to form a glass to metal seal.
Claims49
An optical fiber feedthrough for feeding a fiber through a wall of a package, the feedthrough comprising a metallic sleeve, an optical fiber in the sleeve and a glass seal between the optical fiber and the sleeve forming a fiber to glass sealing interface at the fiber surface and a glass to metal sealing interface at the inner surface of the sleeve, the sleeve and the fiber each having an end, the end of the fiber protruding past the end of the sleeve, the exterior of the sleeve being able to be mounted to a wall of a package such that the sleeve and the fiber pass therethrough.
An optical fiber feedthrough comprising a metallic sleeve, an optical fiber in the sleeve and a glass seal between the optical fiber and the sleeve forming a fiber to glass sealing interface at the fiber surface and a glass to metal sealing interface at the inner surface of the sleeve, the glass seal comprising a glass capillary member having a bore through which the optical fiber is threaded, the materials and the dimensions of the glass capillary and metallic sleeve being selected to have predetermined thermal expansion properties such that after heating to a predetermined temperature and then cooling to form the sealing interfaces any residual stresses in the glass capillary member in the radial, circumferential and axial directions are largely compressive, thereby to limit the susceptibility of the glass capillary to the propagation of cracks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.