A new US manufacturing capability of glass preforms for fiber optics in defense programs. Final project report

The present project is a part of the program to develop ``A New US Manufacturing Capability of Fiber Optics in Defense Programs.`` The scope of the program extends beyond the limit of defense needs, impacting profoundly on important national issues such as, health industry vis-a-vis medical and insurance infrastructure as well as a great segment of commercial-industrial complex. At present, the glass preform -- critical raw material to produce the optical fiber, is 100% imported from Germany and Japan. Objectively, to create a domestic source, a cooperative project participated by Los Alamos and Polymicro began in the summer of 1991 to develop the cladding part of the glass preform. The goal was achieved by developing 0{center_dot}2NA preform, that was fabricated by Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) of born and fluorine doped silica glass as cladding layer on a silica substrate tube and collapsing the tube on a solid silica rod as the core. The preform was finally drawn into 200 micron core optical fiber and delivered to Los Alamos National Laboratory