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:
Apr. 12, 2011
Filed:
Apr. 12, 2005
Hiroyoshi Matsumura, Saitama, JP;
Taro Suzuki, Tokyo, JP;
Toru Achiwa, Tokyo, JP;
Toyo Glass Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method for manufacturing a GRIN lens includes the steps of forming a wet gel provided with a concentration distribution having a different concentration of a refractive index distribution imparting metal that differs in concentration in a radial direction, drying the wet gel to form a dry gel having a bulk specific gravity ρ (g/cm), sintering the dry gel to form a GRIN lens base material and stretching the GRIN lens base material while heating. The method is characterized in that, in the step of sintering the dry gel, partial pressures of oxygen during sintering at 800° C. or higher are 10Pa or lower and also the relation between a rate of temperature increase v (° C./hr) and a bulk density ρ of the dry gel during sintering at 1,000 to 1,150° C. is defined by v≦10*EXP (−ρ). As a result of this, the GRIN lens, which has a large numerical aperture and a small diameter, can stably and easily be manufactured.