Solution doping of sol gel bodies to make graded index glass articles

摘要

A method for manufacturing a glass is provided, comprising converting a porous body to a multi-component glass, wherein a porous body containing at least one metal component in the form of a metal salt is immersed in a solution containing at least one compound selected from the group consisting of an acid, an ammonium salt and an alkylammonium salt to precipitate the metal salt as microcrystals in the pore. Also, a method for manufacturing a glass for use as a gradient index optical element is provided, comprising converting a porous body to a multi-component glass, wherein a porous body containing at least one metal component in the form of a metal salt is immersed in a solution containing a salt of a metal component different from the above-mentioned at least one component and at least one compound selected from the group consisting of an acid and a salt to provide the metal components with concentration distributions. In these methods, not only the metal salt present in dissolved form in the pores of the porous body can be fixed to the pores with certainty, but also it is feasible to individually control the behaviors of a plurality of metal salts in the porous body.