LOW PERMEABILITY GAS RECYCLING IN CONSOLIDATION

摘要

Methods for recycling a low permeability gas such as krypton in the consolidation process of optical fiber manufacturing. The low permeability gas is sent to a purification unit or plant before being reutilized in the consolidation process. The low permeability gas can be used to produce holes or voids in a cladding region of an optical fiber preform. Upon drawing the optical preform into an optical fiber, the voids become elongated in the direction of draw.