Method of making an integral window hermetic fiber optic component
US5573565A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 17, 1994 |
| Grant date | Nov 12, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 17, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF42B3/113
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
In the fabrication of igniters, actuators, detonators, and other pyrotechnic devices to be activated by a laser beam, an integral optical glass window is formed by placing a preform in the structural member of the device and then melting the glass and sealing it in place by heating at a temperature between the ceramming temperature of the glass and the melting point of the metal, followed by rapid furnace cooling to avoid devitrification. No other sealing material is needed to achieve hermeticity. A preferred embodiment of this type of device is fabricated by allowing the molten glass to flow further and form a plano-convex lens integral with and at the bottom of the window. The lens functions to decrease the beam divergence caused by refraction of the laser light passing through the window when the device is fired by means of a laser beam.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.