Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Chizai Hirose

Shinji Ishikawa

Hiroo Kanamori

Akira Urano

Haruhiko Aikawa

Masahide Saitoh

A method for producing an oxide glass thin film is provided, in which volatilization of additives in a porous film from which the thin film is formed is effectively suppressed, and which the oxide glass film has a desired arrangement of refractive index with a low optical loss. According to this method, glass fine particles mainly containing SiO.sub.2 with a first additive are deposited on a substrate to form a porous thin film. A gas containing a second additive is supplied to a first chamber and heated to a first predetermined temperature profile to provide a heated gas containing an oxide. After disposing the substrate in a second chamber communicated with the first chamber, the substrate is heated to make the deposited porous glass into transparent glass while controlling a temperature in the second chamber according to a second temperature profile. A carrier gas is flowed from the first chamber to the second chamber to transfer the heated gas and oxide from the first chamber to the second chamber during heating. The temperature of the first predetermined temperature profile is maintained higher than the temperature of the second predetermined temperature profile at the same time. In addition, the heated gas contains a component that is also present in the first additive.

Method for producing glass thin film

A method of producing an oxide glass thin film includes a process to obtain a transparent glass film, in which volatilization of additives in a porous film deposited is effectively suppressed and which can provide an oxide glass thin film having a desired arrangement of refractive index with a low optical loss. The method is for producing an oxide glass thin film, in which glass fine particles mainly containing SiO.sub.2 with additives are deposited on a substrate to form a porous thin film and then heated to form a transparent glass film. In the method, vapor of oxides of additive components is mixed in an atmosphere in which the porous thin film is heated to form the transparent glass film, whereby stopping the volatilization of the additives in the porous film deposited, preventing diffusion of the additives added to a core layer, and preventing the volatilization of glass transition temperature lowering components of additives (P.sub.2 O.sub.5, B.sub.2 O.sub.3, GeO.sub.2, etc.). By these, a desired arrangement of refractive index may be obtained, and an oxide glass thin film may be obtained while lowering the optical loss such as the optical scattering, which could be caused by bubbles in an unsintered portion.

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Yokohama, Japan

Chizai Hirose