Importance

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Abstract

Vitreous optical fibers provided with hermetically sealed coatings applied by method and apparatus comprising; drawing a fiber directly from a fiber extruder into and through an elongated chamber having inert gas air locks at its opposite ends. Between the air locks, the optical fiber passes successively through a series of evacuated chamber sections comprising: first, a plasma-ion milling zone wherein fiber surface contaminants are removed and microscopic surface defects are diminished; second, a carbon film depositing zone wherein elemental carbon, propelled in plasma-ion form, coats the surface of fiber with a diamond-like elemental carbon film of submicron thickness; third, an elemental metal film depositing zone wherein a selected metal such as indium, tin, aluminum or gold is plasma deposited onto the fiber to form a coating of less than micron thickness; and finally a second metal depositing zone wherein a coating, in the order of microns in thickness, of such a selective metal is applied by immersing and passing the fiber through a more condensed molecular form of the metal.

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First Claim