Birefringent glass waveplate containing copper halide crystals
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsNicholas F. Borrelli, Claude L. Davis, Jr.
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Abstract
A birefringent waveplate that is composed of an integral, transparent, glass body, the glass body consisting of non-absorbing crystalline particles dispersed in a glassy matrix, the dispersed crystalline particles being selected from the group consisting of copper chloride, copper bromide and mixtures thereof, the dispersed crystalline particles having a high aspect ratio and being oriented and aligned along a common axis, whereby the waveplate is rendered birefringent so that polarized components of light transmitted through the waveplate have a phase shift introduced.
Claims12
A birefringent waveplate that is composed of an integral, transparent, glass body, the glass body comprising non-absorbing, crystalline particles dispersed in a glassy matrix, the dispersed crystalline particles being selected from the group consisting of copper chloride, copper bromide and mixtures thereof, the dispersed crystalline particles having a high aspect ratio and being oriented and aligned along a common axis, whereby the waveplate is rendered birefringent so that polarized components of light transmitted through the waveplate have a phase shift introduced and wherein the glass body has a composition comprising, in weight percent calculated from the glass batch,
- ______________________________________ SiO.sub.2 40-80 B.sub.2 O.sub.3 4-35 Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-26 Li.sub.2 O 0-8 Na.sub.2 O 0-15 K.sub.2 O 0-20 Li.sub.2 O + Na.sub.2 O + K.sub.2 O 2-20 CaO + BaO + SrO 0-10 Cu.sub.2 O 0.2-2 CdO 0-2 ZrO.sub.2 0-12 SnO.sub.2 0-2.5 As.sub.2 O.sub.3 + Sb.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-2 Cl 0-2 Br 0-2 Cl + Br 0.25-2.0 F 0-2 R-value 0.15-0.45 ______________________________________
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.