Corning Glass Works

Robert Olshansky

Arnab Sarkar

Paul E Blaszyk

An optical waveguide for a communication system includes a graded index core formed from at least three glass-forming compounds with a profile having at least two .alpha.-type index profile terms. The core has a refractive index which is n.sub.c at the center of the core and which varies as a function of the radial distance r from the center of the core substantially as: ##EQU1## where .alpha..sub.i is defined by: ##EQU2## .DELTA.=(n.sub.c.sup.2 -n.sub.o.sup.2)/2n.sub.c.sup.2, n.sub.o is the refractive index of said compounds at r=a,

Method of making multicomponent optical waveguide having index gradient

Concentrations of dopants are changed while forming a gradient index optical waveguide so that an optimal index profile is produced even though the relationship between concentration and refractive index is not linear. This is accomplished by varying the concentrations of the dopants as a function of the radial distance from the center of said core substantially as:

Method of making optimal index profile for multicomponent nonlinear

A gradient index optical waveguide has an optimal index profile even though the relationship between concentration and refractive index is not linear. This is accomplished by varying the concentrations of the dopants as a function of the radial distance from the center of said core substantially as:

Optical waveguide having optimal index profile for multicomponent

An optical fiber waveguide of the type comprising an outer cladding layer, an axially disposed core of SiO.sub.2 doped with GeO.sub.2 and a first inner cladding layer of SiO.sub.2 doped with an oxide such as P.sub.2 O.sub.5 for lowering the preform processing temperature. A second inner cladding layer of pure SiO.sub.2 is disposed between the first inner cladding layer and the core to prevent P.sub.2 O.sub.5 from diffusing into the core, thereby eliminating absorption losses from the P--O--H band in the 1.1-1.8 .mu.m region.

Long wavelength, low-loss optical waveguide

A method of inexpensively forming low-loss optical waveguide fibers having high strength. A draw blank comprising a core region surrounded by a thin layer of cladding glass is formed by a CVD technique. The blank is drawn into a preliminary fiber which passes through a double crucible arrangement whereby a tension layer is applied to the thin coating layer of the preliminary fiber and a compression layer is formed on the surface of the tension layer. The expansion coefficient of the tension layer is much greater than that of the core glass, and the expansion coefficient of the compression layer is lower than that of the tension layer.

Manufacture of optical fibers

A method of forming a preform or blank for a high bandwidth gradient index optical filament, the preform itself and the resulting optical filament is disclosed. The preform which ultimately forms the optical filament includes a barrier layer between a tubular starting member which comprises the cladding and the core, the index of refraction of the barrier layer being equal to or less than the index of refraction of the tubular starting member; there being no step increase in the index of refraction of the barrier layer at the barrier layer-cladding interface nor of the core at the core-barrier layer interface of the optical filament. The barrier layer is formed from a base glass, a first dopant B.sub.2 O.sub.3, and at least one other dopant which is maintained substantially constant in the barrier layer and then gradually varied during the formation of the core. The quantity of B.sub.2 O.sub.3 is also maintained substantially constant in the barrier layer but then gradually decreased during the formation of the core.

High bandwidth optical waveguides and method of fabrication

A method of forming a preform or blank for a high bandwidth gradient index optical filament, the preform itself and the resulting optical filament is disclosed. The preform which ultimately forms the optical filament includes a barrier layer between a tubular starting member which comprises the cladding and the core, the index of refraction of the barrier layer being equal to or less than the index of refraction of the tubular starting member; there being no step increase in the index of refraction of the barrier layer at the barrier layer-cladding interface nor of the core at the core-barrier layer interface of the optical filament. The tubular starting member is formed of a base glass and at least one dopant, the index of refraction of the tubular starting member being in excess of said base glass. The barrier layer is formed from a base glass and at least one dopant which is maintained substantially constant in the barrier layer. The core is formed of a base glass and at least one dopant which is gradually varied during the formation of the core, the core being free of B.sub.2 O.sub.3.

High bandwidth optical waveguide having B.sub.2 O.sub.3 free core and

An optical waveguide for a communication system includes a graded index core formed from at least three glass-forming compounds with a profile having at least two .alpha.-type index profile terms. The core has a refractive index which is n.sub.c at the center of the core and which varies as a function of the radial distance r from the center of the core subststantially as: ##EQU1## where .alpha..sub.i is defined by: ##EQU2## where N.gtoreq.2,

Multicomponent optical waveguide having index gradient

In a multimode optical waveguide, coupling is promoted among guided modes while coupling to unguided modes is suppressed. The core includes perturbations having a power spectrum which decreases with increasing mode order and which has a plurality of minima. The length of each perturbation is such that a minimum in the power spectrum of the perturbation occurs at the critical frequency .omega..sub.c and the power spectrum is significantly reduced for high frequencies.

Multimode waveguide with enhanced coupling with guided modes

A low loss buffered optical waveguide fiber is described. An optical waveguide fiber is coated with a first layer of high modulus material applied to the exterior longitudinal surface thereof. Thereafter, a second layer of low modulus plastic material is disposed over the layer of high modulus material. The ratio R.sub.i /R.sub.o of the radii of the first and second applied layers is selected to minimize the microbending loss.

Buffered optical waveguide fiber

An optical waveguide for use in an optical communication system employing a broad spectral source. Mode coupling is present in the propagation of optical signals in the waveguide, and the parameters of the waveguide are such that pulse dispersion produced by the finite spectral width of the source is minimized by utilizing the mode coupling to substantially cause cancellation of dispersion which is linear with respect to waveguide length and which is caused by the mode independent material dispersion and by the mode dependent waveguide dispersion.

Growing community of inventors

Addison, NY, United States of America

Robert Olshansky