FINAL PROJECT REPORT JUNE, 1992 SUMMARY

Transcription

1 FNAL PROJECT REPORT JUNE, 992 PROJECT NUMBER TTLE 9-XT-W7962- A NEW U.S. MANUFACTURNG CAPABLTY OF GLASS PREFORMS FOR FBER OPTCS N DEFENSE PROGRAMS SUBCONTRACTOR POLYMCRO TECHNOLOGES, NC. PHOENX, ARZONA PRNCPAL NVESTGATOR DLP K. NATH (602) SUMMARY The present project s a part of the program to develop "A New U.S. Manufacturng Capablty of Fber Optcs n Defense Programs." The scope of the program extends beyond the lmt of defense needs, mpactng profoundly on mportant natonal ssues such as, health ndustry vs-a-vs medcal and nsurance nfrastructure as well as a great segment of commercal-ndustra complex. At present, the glass preform - crtcal raw materal to produce the optcal fber, s 00% mported from Germany and Japan. Objectvely, to create a domestc source, a cooperatve project partcpated by Los Alamos and Polymcro began n the summer of 99 to develop the claddng part of the glass preform. The goal was acheved by developng 0*2NA preform, that was fabrcated by Modfed Chemcal Vapor Deposton (MCVD) of born and fluorne doped slca glass as claddng layer on a slca substrate tube and collapsng the tube on a sold slca rod as the core. The preform was fnally drawn nto 200 mcron core optcal fber and delvered to Los Alamos Natonal Laboratory. DSCLAMER Ths report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the Unted States Government. Nether the Unted States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of ther employees, makes any warranty, express or mpled, or assumes any legal lablty or responsblty for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any nformaton, apparatus, product, or process dsclosed, or represents that ts use would not nfrnge prvately owned rghts. Reference heren to any specfc commercal product, process, or servce by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwse does not necessarly consttute or mply ts endorsement, recommendaton, or favorng by the Unted States Government or any agency thereof. The vews and opnons of authors expressed heren do not necessarly state or reflect those of the Unted States Government or any agency thereof. MASTER

2 DSCLAMER Portons of ths document may be llegble n electronc mage products. mages are produced from the best avalable orgnal document.

3 -0 NTRODUCTON A key objectve of ths program was to create a compettve domestc source for 0.2 NA step-ndex multmode glass preforms and fbers now suppled by foregn companes currently manufacturng the fber optcs that s consdered mportant as a crtcal raw materal used n nuclear weapons test program, laser ordnance gnton, ndustral process control, laser weldng and cuttng as well as a strongly emergng feld of medcal applcaton of Mnmally nvasve Surgery and Therapy. Heraeus of Germany and Mtsubsh of Japan are the two world supplers for ths type of preforms. Both companes have ther own patented processes to manufacture these preforms. The purpose of ths project was to develop a smlar type of preform based on the patent docketed by D. K. Nath at Polymcro to reduce the cost of producton of optcal fber by at least 50%; mprove the performance of currently used fbers by enhancng the qualty and desgn of preforms; market these preforms domestcally and nternatonally; and, ultmately make new knds of preforms for applcaton n other felds. The resultant preforms can then be specfcally desgned to produce radaton-hard, hgh laser power, UV and R transmttng fber. 2-0 TECHNCAL PROGRESS The project progressed through four mlestones as follows Faclty Equpments Patent Process Development

4 2. FACLTY PoTymcro had no faclty to make glass preform. A warehouse-type faclty was converted to buld - preform room, - glass cleanng and storage room, - computer nterface room, - scrubber room, and - hydrogen gas storage faclty. 2'2 EQUPMENTS A complete set of Modfed Chemcal Vapor Deposton (MCVD) preform makng unt costs about $350K. Because of budget restrcton, old equpments were bought and refurbshed. The only new equpment bought was a scrubber. The followng equpment-related tasks were performed. 2.3 PATENT Refurbshed - lathe, control consoles, chemcal delvery system and computer nterface Boughtnstalled - scrubber, torch system, exhaust, gas lnes Debugged - lathe system, chemcal delvery system, srubber, glass cleanng A patent has been docketed by D. K. Nath at Polymcro to fabrcate preform of the present project. Because other foregn companes have patents on smlar type of glass preforms, a thorough patent search was made. One German and two Japanese companes were dentfed. The results are shown below.

5 - HERAEUS MTSUBSH SUMTOMO US Patent 4,082,420, Aprl 4, 978 RF Plasma Processed Hghest NA Preform Wth F Dopng Used By Most Manufacturers nternatonally Usable n W Radaton Hard Patent Expres Aprl 4, 995 US Patent 4,733,939, March 29, 988 CVD Processed Preform B and F Dopng OH Content 0. to 300 ppm 60% More Expensve Than Heraeus Radaton Hard Not Usable n UV Patent Expres March 29, 2005 Jap. Patent , Aprl 9, 98 CVD Processed Preform B and F Dopng OH or OD Content At Least 40 ppm Clams on X-rays, Gamma Rays and Radoactve Envronment Not n W Patent Expres Aprl 9, 998

6 RECOMMENDATON BY ATTORNEY "Lmted Patent Protecton to a Conventonal Optcal Fber Havng a Hgh OH Content May Be Avalable." 2.4 Process Development The expermental work started on January 6, 992. The detaled actvtes are shown n program schedule (Appendx ). n essence, the process conssts of chemcal vapor deposton of fluorne-and-boron-doped slca glass nsde a slca tube as claddng layer and then collapsng the tube onto a pure slca rod, whch acts as core for gudng lght. The resultant glass rod, called preform, s drawn nto har-thn optcal fber to be used as wavegude. The success of the process development effort can be,best descrbed by the followng achevements. A. A worldwde search of core rods was completed and samples from Heraeus, Nppon, Mtsubsh, Thermal Amercan, and General Electrc were evaluated by Los Alamos Natonal Laboratores. Heraeus and Nppon core rods were found to be the most sutable materals for radaton hardness. Heraeus core rods was used for the delverable. B. Boron and fluorne doped slca glass deposton process has been fully developed. Data sheet for the fabrcaton of the pr,eform that was used for the delverable s gven n Table. C. The collapsng technque of the doped slca tube on slca core rods, whch act as wavegude, has been developed and optmzed va four technques as gven n Appendx, Actvty No. 5.

7 D. The fabrcated glass preform was drawn nto 200 mcron core optcal fber. The propertes of the fbers are as follows (MCRON) Attn. Loss (dbkm) at Lot No. Core Clad Glass O.D. Polymde - NA 308pm 800pm DBS-0& DEQ The spectral attenuaton curves of these fbers n the range pm are shown n Fgures - 4.

8 3.0 BUDGET STATUS TEM Captal Materal Labor Overhead Faclty TOTAL COST ($ 4,42 9, 357 6, 652 4, , 000 FUNDED BY PT ($) LOS ALAMoS ($ 23, , , 359 5, 947 7, 787 8, 72 5, 923 3, TOTAL ( S ) 43, , , 47 LANL subcontracted ths project to PT for $55,47.

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14 0 392 APPENDX Glass Project Schedule

15 APPENDX Glass Project S c h e d u l e 0392