Production of blanks for laser-active quartz glass components involves granulation of suspension containing silica and dopants, heating product, and sintering product in reducing atmosphere

摘要

Production of blanks for laser-active quartz glass components comprises: - (A) preparing a suspension with a solids content of at least 40 wt.% which contains silica nanopowder and dopants containing a rare earth cation and transition metals; - (B) granulation by stirring while removing water to form silica granules consisting of spherical, porous grains which have a moisture content below 35% and a density of at least 0.95 g/m2; - (C) drying and purifying the granules by heating to at least 1000 deg. C to form doped, porous silica grains with an OH content below 10 ppm; and - (D) sintering or melting the doped grains in a reducing atmosphere.