EP0166649A2
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EP
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Hermetic coating for an optical fiber and method of forming the same
Assignee: Alcatel Lucent NV
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Filing: 1985-06-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-06-12
Abstract
Abstract @ An optical fiber which has just been drawn from an optical preform is provided with two external hermetic coatings. The primary coating is a metallic coating provided by, for example, using a heterogeneous nucleation thermochemical deposition technique. This technique involves passing the fiber through a reaction zone which contains a gaseous medium that includes a reactant which decomposes, or a mixture of reactants which chemically react, at a predetermined temperature to form the material of the coating. The second coating is provided by immersing the fiber in a deposition bath containing a liquid medium which includes at least one reactant capable of deposition onto the primary coating to form a secondary coating. The deposition process may be achieved by applying a current through the medium at a predetermined temperature or by including reactants in the medium which will deposit at predetermined temperatures without applying a current. The resulting fiber may then be provided with an additional polymer coating layer.
Inventors
- 👤 Dipak R. Biswas
- 👤 Satyabrata Raychaudhuri
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 12:14
CPC Classifications
C; C03; C03C; C03C25/00; C03C25/10; C03C25/12; C03C25/22; C03C25/223; C03C25/104; C03C25/106; C03C25/1061; C03C25/1063
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 32
Claim 1
Independent Claim
68 words
A method of forming a hermetically coated optical fiber comprising the steps of: forming a fiber from an optical material at an elevated forming temperature; depositing a primary coating on the outer surface of the fiber within a first predetermined temperature range; and applying a secondary coating on the outer surface of the primary coating; at least one of the primary coating and the secondary coating being hermetic.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
68 words
A method of forming a hermetically coated optical fiber comprising the steps of: forming a fiber from an optical material at an elevated forming temperature; depositing a primary coating on the outer surface of the fiber within a first predetermined temperature range; and applying a secondary coating on the outer surface of the primary coating; at least one of the primary coating and the secondary coating being hermetic.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said depositing step includes passing the fiber through a gaseous medium containing at least one reactant capable of undergoing a chemical conversion into a material of the primary coating
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the step of: utilizing the heat contents of the fiber from the fiber forming process to provide the first predetermined temperature.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said applying step includes immersing the primary coated fiber into a liquid medium containing at least one reactant capble of deposition at.a second predetermined temperature onto said primary coating to form said secondary coating.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the passing and immersing steps include producing metallic coatings.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 4 further comprising applying a potential difference through the liquid medium for inducing the deposition.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the applying step includes supplying a predetermined electrical potential to the primary coating.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one reactant is a compound containing a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, chromium and iron.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the predetermined temperature for the nickel compound is approximately 54,5° C .
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the predetermined temperature for the chromium is approximately 43-49° C .
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the predetermined temperature for the iron compound is approximately 38°C.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the immersing step includes maintaining the primary coating and the liquid medium at substantially the same electric potential.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the at least one reactant is a compound containing a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, iron and a nickel-iron alloy.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 13 wherein.the predetermined temperature for the nickel compound is approximately 9 0 ° C .
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the predetermined temperature for the iron compound is approximately 76,5-90,5°C.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 13 wherein the predetermined temperature for the nickel-iron alloy is approximately 21-26,5°C.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of agitating the liquid medium during the immersing step in order to increase the deposition rate of the secondary coating.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising applying a polymer coating to the outer surface of the additional coating.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said forming step includes drawing the optical fiber from a preform.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of said depositing step and said applying step includes depositing at a pressure below ambient pressure.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the material of the depositing step includes a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum and nickel.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the material of the depositing step includes a dielectric material.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 22 wherein the dielectric material is tin oxide.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
44 words
An arrangement for applying coatings on optical fibers comprising: means for forming an optical fiber from a preform at a fiber forming temperature; means for depositing a primary coating on the optical fiber; and means for depositing a secondary coating on said primary coating.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
44 words
An arrangement for applying coatings on optical fibers comprising: means for forming an optical fiber from a preform at a fiber forming temperature; means for depositing a primary coating on the optical fiber; and means for depositing a secondary coating on said primary coating.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
A hermetically coated optical fiber comprising: a fiber; a first coating deposited on the outer surface of said cladding; and a second coating deposited on the outer surface of said first coating.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
32 words
A hermetically coated optical fiber comprising: a fiber; a first coating deposited on the outer surface of said cladding; and a second coating deposited on the outer surface of said first coating.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
28 words
The fiber of claim 25 wherein said secondary coating was deposited from a liquid medium containing reactants capable of deposition onto the primary coating at a predetermined temperature.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
35 words
The fiber of claim 24 further comprising means for maintaining the temperature of the outer surface of the fiber at a predetermined level utilizing the heat retained at the fiber surface from the fiber formation.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
37 words
The fiber of claim 25 wherein said first coating was deposited from a gaseous medium containing at least one reactant capable of undergoing a chemical conversion into a material of the hermetic coating at the predetermined temperature.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
13 words
The fiber of claim 26 wherein the first and second coatings are metallic.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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