Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
190 words
Optical fiber comprising a core and at least a first cladding contactingly surrounding the core, at least the material of the core and of the first cladding being glass produced by a vapor phase deposition process, the glass of the core and the first cladding comprising everywhere at least 50% by weight SiO 2 , with at least one of the core and first cladding further comprising at least one element selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and the 4f-type rare earths (atomic number 57-71), these elements to be referred to as "modifiers", and at least one element selected from the group consisting of B, Al, Ga, In, P, As, and Sb, these elements to be referred to as "homogenizers", the maximum modifier concentration in the core or first cladding being at least 0.2 mole %, the homogenizer concentration chosen such that in at least the region of maximum modifier concentration 3<(n.sub.1 M+n.sub.2 H)/H<20, where M and H are modifier and homogenizer concentrations, respectively, in mole %, and n 1 and n 2 are the modifier and homogenizer valences, respectively.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
190 words
Optical fiber comprising a core and at least a first cladding contactingly surrounding the core, at least the material of the core and of the first cladding being glass produced by a vapor phase deposition process, the glass of the core and the first cladding comprising everywhere at least 50% by weight SiO 2 , with at least one of the core and first cladding further comprising at least one element selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and the 4f-type rare earths (atomic number 57-71), these elements to be referred to as "modifiers", and at least one element selected from the group consisting of B, Al, Ga, In, P, As, and Sb, these elements to be referred to as "homogenizers", the maximum modifier concentration in the core or first cladding being at least 0.2 mole %, the homogenizer concentration chosen such that in at least the region of maximum modifier concentration 3<(n.sub.1 M+n.sub.2 H)/H<20, where M and H are modifier and homogenizer concentrations, respectively, in mole %, and n 1 and n 2 are the modifier and homogenizer valences, respectively.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
Optical fiber of claim 1, wherein the modifier is selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and the 4f-type rare earths, and the homogenizer is selected from the group consisting of Al, Ga, and In.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
Optical fiber of claim 1, wherein the glass of the core and the cladding comprises everywhere at least about 80% by weight SiO 2 .
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
Optical fiber of claim 1, wherein the fiber is communications-grade fiber having a transmission loss, at least at one wavelength in the wavelength range 0.5 μm-1.5 μm, of less than 10 dB/km.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
Optical fiber of claim 4, wherein the modifier is selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, and the 4f-type rare earths and the homogenizer is Al.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
Optical fiber of claim 1, wherein the maximum modifier concentration is at least 1 mole %.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
11 words
Optical fiber of claim 1, wherein 3<(n 1 M+n 2 H)/H<10.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
35 words
Optical fiber of claim 1, wherein the fiber is produced by a vapor deposition process comprising nebulizing a liquid comprising at least one element selected from the group consisting of the modifiers and the homogenizers.