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US 7,315,683 B2Granted
Optical waveguides formed in glass-ceramic materials and method for making same
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsGeorge Halsey Beall, Nicholas Francis Borrelli, Bryce Neilson Samson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Optical waveguides are fabricated in glass-ceramic materials utilizing an ion-exchange process to pattern the waveguide at a temperature below the ceramming temperature of the glass-ceramic material. The optical waveguides may include optically-active dopants dispersed preferably within the crystallite phase of the glass-ceramic material.
Claims10
An optical waveguide comprising:
- a forsterite glass-ceramic material having a glass phase, a crystallite phase, and a refractive index;
- and
- an ion-exchanged dopant dispersed within at least one region of the glass-ceramic material such that the at least one region has a relatively higher refractive index or a relatively lower refractive index compared with the refractive index of the glass-ceramic material not containing the ion-exchanged dopant.
A method for making an optical waveguide, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a forsterite glass-ceramic material having a glass phase, a crystallite phase, and mobile ions, the glass ceramic material having a refractive index;
- and
- exposing the glass-ceramic material to an ion donor so as to exchange predetermined ions from the ion donor with the mobile ions from the glass-ceramic material to form an ion-exchanged region having either a relatively higher refractive index or a relatively lower refractive index compared with the refractive index of the glass-ceramic material not containing the predetermined ions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.