A system and method for making a thin sintered silica sheet is provided. The method includes providing a soot deposition surface and forming a glass soot sheet by delivering a stream of glass soot particles from a soot generating device to the soot deposition surface. The method includes providing a sintering laser positioned to direct a laser beam onto the soot sheet and forming a sintered glass sheet from the glass soot sheet by delivering a laser beam from the sintering laser onto the glass soot sheet. The sintered glass sheet formed by the laser sintering system or method is thin, has low surfaces roughness and/or low contaminant levels. The system is also configured to produce a sheet having low degrees of warp and/or low fictive temperatures.

Methods for selecting titania-doped quartz glass which experiences a reduction in OH group concentration of less than or equal to 100 ppm upon heat treatment at 900° C. for 100 hours as suitable material for the EUV lithography member.

Layered glass structures and fabrication methods are described. The methods include depositing soot on a dense glass substrate to form a composite structure and sintering the composite structure to form a layered glass structure. The dense glass substrate may be derived from an optical fiber preform that has been modified to include a planar surface. The composite structure may include one or more soot layers. The layered glass structure may be formed by combining multiple composite structures to form a stack, followed by sintering and fusing the stack. The layered glass structure may further be heated to softening and drawn to control linear dimensions. The layered glass structure or drawn layered glass structure may be configured as a planar waveguide.

Laser waveguides, methods and systems for forming a laser waveguide are provided. The waveguide includes an inner cladding layer surrounding a central axis and a glass core surrounding and located outside of the inner cladding layer. The glass core includes a laser-active material. The waveguide includes an outer cladding layer surrounding and located outside of the glass core. The inner cladding, outer cladding and/or core may surround a hollow central channel or bore and may be annular in shape.

A process for the production of a fluorinated quartz glass including the steps of generating SiO.sub.2 particles in a synthesis burner; depositing the resulting SiO.sub.2 particles into a body; and vitrifying the resulting body, wherein a fluorinating agent having a boiling point greater than or equal to −10° C. is supplied to the synthesis burner.

Provided is a titanium-containing quartz glass having excellent UV absorption. The quartz glass absorbs ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 250 nm or less, ozone generation-related adverse effects on the human body, are prevented, a decrease in transmittance of the quartz glass in the range from near-ultraviolet to visible light due to being colored when irradiated with ultraviolet rays does not occur, absorption build-up or lamp burst-inducing deformation build-up, which is caused by a structural change in the quartz glass that occurs in the range of 200-300 nm when irradiated with ultraviolet rays, is suppressed, and a decrease in transmittance at intended wavelength ranges does not occur even when exposed to ultraviolet rays. The titanium-containing quartz glass having excellent UV absorption is colorless, wherein the average concentration of titanium is 10-500 ppm, the concentration of OH group is 10-350 ppm.

The present disclosure provides a method for modification of surface of an initial optical fiber preform. The initial optical fiber preform is manufactured using at least one preform manufacturing process. The surface of the initial optical fiber preform is treated with 50-70 liters of chlorine per square meter of the surface of the initial optical fiber preform. The surface of the initial optical fiber preform is flame polished using a flame polishing module. The treatment of the surface of the initial optical fiber preform with chlorine and flame polishing of the surface of the initial optical fiber preform collectively converts the initial optical fiber preform into a modified optical fiber preform.

Embodiments of the disclosure relates to a light-diffusing element. The light diffusing element includes a glass core having a first refractive index. The light diffusing element also includes a cladding surrounding the glass core. The cladding includes an inner cladding surface and an outer cladding surface. The inner cladding surface and the outer cladding surface define a cladding thickness of from 5 μm to 30 μm. The cladding has a second refractive index that is less than the first refractive index of the glass core. The light diffusing element also includes a coating surrounding the cladding. The coating has an inner coating surface and an outer coating surface. The inner coating surface contacts the outer cladding surface. The outer coating surface defines an outermost surface of the light-diffusing element, and the coating includes first scattering centers.

A known method for homogenizing glass includes the following steps: providing a cylindrical blank composed of the glass, having a cylindrical outer surface which extends between a first end face and a second end face, forming a shear zone in the blank by softening a longitudinal section of the blank and subjecting it to a thermal-mechanical intermixing treatment, and moving the shear zone along the longitudinal axis of the blank. To reduce the risk of cracks and fractures during homogenizing, it is proposed that a thermal radiation dissipator is used that at least partially surrounds the shear zone, the lateral dimension of which in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the blank is greater than the shear zone and smaller than the length of the blank, the thermal radiation dissipator being moved synchronously with the shear zone along the longitudinal axis of the blank.

An additive manufacturing process includes forming an object material stack using sheet materials without use of binder material between the sheet materials and forming features of the cross-sectional layers of a 3D object in the corresponding sheet materials. Another process involves forming features of the cross-sectional layers of a 3D object in soot layers of a laminated soot sheet. A manufactured article includes three or more glass layers laminated together without any binder material between the glass layers. At least one of the glass layers is composed of silica or doped silica, and at least one feature is formed in at least one of the glass layers.