Method and apparatus for hermetic coating of optical fibers
US4863576A · kind A · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 19, 1988 |
| Grant date | Sep 5, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 19, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB01J2219/1227
- WIPO fieldSurface technology, coating
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Apparatus for coating optical fibers with thin hermetic films based on cylindrical magnetron reactive sputtering and charged particle assisted deposition is disclosed. The thin film coated on the fiber is composed of material sputtered from a cylindrical cathode as well as material from reactive feedstock gases. The cylindrical cathode insures uniform deposited film thickness on a cylindrical fiber at high deposition rates. A cylindrical inner extraction grid acts to create ion or electron bombardment of the outer surface of the fiber as it is coated. As a consequence of the enclosed cylindrical geometry, the high magnetron sputtering rate, and the in-situ charged particle bombardment, hermetic coatings of high quality may be placed on fibers pulled through the deposition apparatus at rates of 1-20 meters/second. An external laser beam directed along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical magnetron may be employed to improve the coating process.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.