Western Electric Company, Inc.

Lucent Technologies Inc.

Donald Paul Jablonowski

Kenneth L Walker

David Kalish

Paul Francis Glodis

Charles Francis Gridley

A large optical preform 303 is made by a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process by depositing successive layers of core and cladding materials onto the inside surface of a rotating glass tube 33 having a hydroxyl ion (OH.sup.-) level that is less than 0.5 parts per million (ppm) by weight. The tube is then collapsed inwardly to form a core rod 301 in which the deposited core material 31 has a diameter that is greater than about 5 millimeters and the deposited cladding material 32 has an outside diameter that is less than about 15 millimeters. A machine-vision system 140, 150, 160 monitors and controls the diameter of the glass tube by regulating the pressure within the tube. Moreover, the machine-vision system monitors and controls the straightness of the tube by varying its rotational speed according to angular position. After the core rod 301 is formed, it is plasma etched to remove contaminants, and then overclad with two glass jackets 34, 35 having a hydroxyl ion (OH.sup.-) level that is less than 1.0 ppm by weight to create a large preform 303 from which about 400 kilometers of singlemode optical fiber can be drawn per meter of length.

Method of making a large MCVD single mode fiber preform by varying

An object (12) is raster scanned with a small, localized beam of laser light (22) and the backscattered radiation therefrom is monitored by a plurality of detectors (44). Each of the detectors (44) monitors a different characteristic of the backscattered radiation and an arithmetic operation is performed on the output of the detectors to provide a single composite video signal with enhanced contrast.

Laser scanning and multiple detection for video image processing

An improved method and apparatus are disclosed for monitoring relative movement between an incident beam of substantially coherent light and a grating on which the beam is directed, wherein light from the beam passing through the grating is sensed by a photodetector, and the cycles in the photodetector output signal are counted. The improvement comprises patterning the beam, transforming the patterned beam into a Fraunhofer diffraction pattern, and further diffracting the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern with the grating to cause an interference image, which is detected by the photodetector. Each two cycles in the output signal of the photodetector then correspond to a relative movement of the beam past one grating period.

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Dunwoody, GA, United States of America

Donald Paul Jablonowski