Solution doping of porous preforms.

摘要

Disclosed is a method of forming a doped glass body. The glass body is formed by adding a dopant to a glass preform, at least part of which has interconnective pores. The porous preform is immersed in a solution of a salt of the dopant dissolved in an organic solvent having no OH groups. The solvent is removed, and the porous glass preform is heat treated to consolidate it into a non-porous glassy body containing the dopant dispersed throughout at least a portion of the body. An OH-free solvent is selected because of its beneficial effect on the preform during the drying step. Whereas OH-containing solvents such as water and alcohol caused cracking and/or flaking of the outer surface of the porous preform following the drying step, an undamaged surface is formed by the present invention.