Composition for optical waveguide article and method for making continuous clad filament

Abstract

An optical article having a rare earth doped, fluorinated aluminosilicate glass core composition consisting essentially, in mole %, of: ______________________________________ SiO.sub.2 0-90 GeO.sub.2 0-90 Na.sub.2 O 0-25 Li.sub.2 O 0-10 K.sub.2 O 0-25 Rb.sub.2 O 0-25 Cs.sub.2 O 0-25 Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 5-40 Ga.sub.2 O.sub.3 5-40 RE.sub.2 (1)O.sub.3 0-40 RE.sub.2 (2)O.sub.3 0-1 Er.sub.2 O.sub.3 0.001-5 Yb.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-5 PbO 0-15 RO 0-20 ZnO 0-10 ZrO.sub.2 0-2 TiO.sub.2 0-2 Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 0-10 Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 0-10 P.sub.2 O.sub.5 0-5 B.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-15 As.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-10 Sb.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-20 Na.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 0-10 Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3 0-5, and ______________________________________ up to 15 weight % fluorine in the form of at least one of a fluorinated component of the glass composition and a batch constituent selected from a group consisting of at least one of AlF.sub.3, REF.sub.3, NH.sub.5 F.sub.2, NaF, Na.sub.2 SiF.sub.6, Na.sub.3 AlF.sub.6, where RE(1) is at least one of Y, La, Gd, and Lu; RE(2) is at least one of Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Tm; R is at least one of Ba, Ca, Mg, and Sr; (SiO.sub.2 +GeO.sub.2) is in the range (40-90); and (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 +Ga.sub.2 O.sub.3)>(RO+"alk".sub.2 O+RE.sub.2 O.sub.3) where "alk" is at least one of Li, Na, K, Cs, and Rb. A cullet-in-tube method for making continuous clad filament is also described. The invention provides for an optical waveguiding article having relatively high gain, a relatively flat gain spectrum, compatibility with conventional silica fiber, good durability and ease of manufacture.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.