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:
Feb. 26, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 07, 1999
Applicant:
Inventor:
Steven E. Gianoulakis, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Assignee:
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
C30B 1/102 ; C30B 2/912 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
C30B 1/102 ; C30B 2/912 ;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for producing crystals that minimizes birefringence even at large crystal sizes, and is suitable for production of CaF crystals. The method of the present invention comprises annealing a crystal by maintaining a minimal temperature gradient in the crystal while slowly reducing the bulk temperature of the crystal. An apparatus according to the present invention includes a thermal control system added to a crystal growth and annealing apparatus, wherein the thermal control system allows a temperature gradient during crystal growth but minimizes the temperature gradient during crystal annealing.