Method of making an article comprising an optical component, and article comprising the component
DCFirst Claim
1. Method of making an article that comprises an optical component, the method comprisinga) providing a body that comprises oxide glass,b) contacting at least a portion of the glass with an atmosphere comprising gas selected from the group consisting of H2 and D2, said gas to be designated the "sensitizing" gas;
- andc) exposing at least a part of said portion of the glass to actinic radiation such that the refractive index of said exposed part is changed;
whereind) step b) comprises contacting the glass at a temperature of at most 250°
C., with the atmosphere having a sensitizing gas partial pressure greater than 1 atmosphere, such that irradiation can result in a normalized index change (Δ
) of at least 10-5.
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Abstract
Unexpectedly large normalized refractive index changes (Δ>10-5, but possibly even larger than 10-3) can be obtained in oxide glass, e.g., high-silica glass, by a treatment that comprises exposing at least a portion of the glass at a temperature of at most 250° C. to H2 or D2 (partial H2 or D2 pressure greater than 1 atmosphere), and irradiating at least a part of the exposed portion with actinic (typically UV) radiation. The method can be used to make optical components that comprise a region (or regions) of raised refractive index, e.g., an in-line refractive index grating in an optical waveguide, a planar optical waveguide, or a phase grating.
161 Citations
18 Claims
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1. Method of making an article that comprises an optical component, the method comprising
a) providing a body that comprises oxide glass, b) contacting at least a portion of the glass with an atmosphere comprising gas selected from the group consisting of H2 and D2, said gas to be designated the "sensitizing" gas; - and
c) exposing at least a part of said portion of the glass to actinic radiation such that the refractive index of said exposed part is changed;
whereind) step b) comprises contacting the glass at a temperature of at most 250°
C., with the atmosphere having a sensitizing gas partial pressure greater than 1 atmosphere, such that irradiation can result in a normalized index change (Δ
) of at least 10-5. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- and
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15. An article comprising a body that comprises oxide glass, said glass comprising a first and a second region, with the glass in the first region having a normalized refractive index that is greater than that of the second region;
- characterized in that
the normalized refractive index in at least part of the first region exceeds the normalized refractive index in the second region by at least 10-5, wherein said glass contains a chemical species selected from the group consisting of OH and OD, with the concentration of said chemical species in at least said part of the first region being at least ten times the concentration of the chemical species in the second region, with the chemical composition of the glass otherwise being essentially the same in said first and second regions. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
- characterized in that
Specification