Manufacture of high proof-test optical fiber using sol-gel
AssigneeAT&T Bell Laboratories
InventorsSuhas D. Bhandarkar, Harish C. Chandan, David W. Johnson, Jr., John B. MacChesney
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Abstract
Optical fiber drawn from preforms including sol-gel-derived glass is found to contain small refractory particles of the order of a micron in size. These particles initiate fiber breaks with the result that fiber may not meet proof-test tensile strength requirements. An effective separation method relies upon density and/or size difference from suspended sol particles for separation in the ungelled sol. A preferred separation procedure is centrifugation.
Claims8
Process for fabrication of optical fiber in accordance with which fiber is drawn from a preform comprising a sol-gel body, in which the sol-gel body is prepared by gelation of a sol followed by drying to a porous body and finally by sintering, and in which the sol comprises suspension particles of SiO.sub.2 in water, in which suspension particles are primarily of size within the range of from 0.005 .mu.m to 0.2 .mu.m
- CHARACTERIZED in that the sol is further processed to remove contaminant particles on the basis of at least one characteristic selected from the group consisting of density greater than that of such suspension particles and size larger than that of such suspension particles, in which further processing comprises centrifugation, settling, or filtration, and in which further processing results in substantial separation of refractory particles, in which refractory refers to particles which are not assimilated in resulting fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.