PROCESS FOR MAKING GLASS BODIES HAVING REFRACTIVE INDEX GRADIENTS

摘要

A process is suited for producing silica glass bodies having refractive index profiles. The process involves providing a porous body having an initially uniform dopant distribution, heating the porous body in a halogen-containing atmosphere to produce a dopant gradient, and densifying the porous body at an elevated temperature to produce the glass body. The process is more cost-effective than those previously known, and allows for high reproducibility of the refractive index gradients of the bodies produced.