The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 28, 2000
Filed:
Aug. 27, 1998
Applicant:
Inventor:
James William Fleming, Jr, Westfield, NJ (US);
Assignee:
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
C03B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
65391 ; 65 172 ; 65 61 ; 65104 ; 65120 ; 65436 ;
Abstract
The smoothness of refractory dielectric bodies, particularly silica sol-gel bodies, is substantially improved by a relatively straightforward treatment. In particular, the surface of the body is treated with a plasma fireball, such as induced by a plasma torch. The treatment is able to reduce the roughness, as measured by RA, in overcladding tubes formed by a sol-gel process by at least a factor of 2, typically at least a factor of 5. It is also possible to improve the smoothness of silica tubes that are drawn from a billet. Typically, the process reduces the roughness of silica bodies to an RA of about 1 microinch or less.