WO2002046112A1

WO2002046112A1 - A method and a device for manufacturing a glass coating

Info

Publication number: WO2002046112A1
Application number: PCT/FI2001/001057
Authority: WO
Inventors: Juha Tikkanen; Jorma Keskinen; Markku Rajala
Original assignee: Liekki Oy
Priority date: 2000-12-05
Filing date: 2001-12-05
Publication date: 2002-06-13
Also published as: FI20002668A; FI20002668A0; FI111939B; AU2002216139A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and device for forming a planar glass coating suitable to be used especially in planar waveguides, in which manufacturing method a thermal reactor (10), such as flame or plasma is used to produce aerosol particles (16) from reactants (15), which said aerosol particles (16) from reactants (15), which said aerosol particles (16) are guided on the surface of the substrate (17) to form a glass coating. According to the invention, the aerosol particles (16) produced from the reactants (15) in the thermal reactor (10) are guided with a gas flow (18) travelling through the nozzle part (12) to impact upon the substrate (17) as a particle jet, which said gas flow (18) is produced by arranging a pressure difference over the nozzle part (12). By means of the invention, a significantly better control and adjustability of the manufacturing process is attained when compared to methods of prior art, as the invention enables for example an aerodynamic classification of the aerosol particles before the impaction forming the coating.

Description

A method and a device for manufacturing a glass coating

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a planar glass coating suitable for use especially in planar waveguides, as presented in the preamble of the appended claim 1. The invention also relates to a device according to the preamble of the appended claim 10 for implementing the afore-mentioned method.

An optical planar waveguide is produced by forming superimposed glass layers with different refractive indexes on the top of a suitable substrate, for example a silicon wafer. Conventionally, a so-called undercladding is first made of glass on top of the silicon wafer, on top of which a core layer having a slightly higher optical refractive index than said undercladding is formed. In this core layer, a desired waveguide pattern is formed for example by means of photolithographic methods. Furthermore, a third layer, i.e. a so-called upper cladding having a slightly lower refractive index is formed on top of the core layer. In the waveguide structure formed thereby light propagates in the core layer in the same way as in the core of an optical fibre.

Optical planar waveguides are at present quite widely used in different kinds of applications. As examples of the most important application areas of planar waveguides, it is possible to mention data processing and telecommunications technology as well as different measurement and sensor applications. Planar waveguides enable the packing of optical structures and elements on the same substrate in a small space as a compact entity, which, in addition to the small size, may have advantages such as small optical signal losses and high operating speed. In this respect it can be considered that by means of planar waveguides it is possible to attain advantages similar to the ones attained with conventional integrated circuits, in which only electric components are used within the same substrate. At present, it is, in addition to the optical components and structures, also possible to combine electrical components and structures in the same substrate in optical planar waveguides. One known and widely used method for forming the glass layers necessary in optical planar waveguides is the so-called flame hydrosis deposition FHD.

US patent 5,622,750 discloses a method of forming the glass layers used in planar waveguides by means of the FHD method. In the method disclosed in the above-mentioned patent, the reactants required in the manufacture of glass are mixed together to form a solution, from which solution aerosol drops are formed which are guided with a carrier gas to a burner and further to a flame. In the flame functioning as a thermal reactor the aerosol drops form aerosol particles, which are further thermophoretically guided on the substrate to be coated, thus forming a class material coating. To attain a coating layer of uniform quality and thickness, the substrate is moved back and forth on a plane transverse to the flame during the coating process. When a suitable coating layer has been grown on the substrate by means of the FHD method, the above-mentioned coating layer is sintered to form a dense glass layer by heat-treating the substrate at high temperature in a separate oven.

In the FHD method disclosed in the patent US 5,622,750, as well as in other methods of prior art in which flame, plasma, or another thermal reactor is used to produce nanometre-scale aerosol particles from the reactants, the aerosol particles forming the coating are guided to the object to be coated substantially as a result of thermophoresis. In other words, as a result of the temperature gradient between the flame or the like functioning as a thermal reactor and the colder substrate, the aerosol particles formed in the thermal reactor are guided towards the substrate as a result of their thermal movement and the mutual impacts caused by the same. Because of the small size and mass of the aerosol particles, the linear momentum (mass x velocity) gained by the particles from the flame and directed towards the substrate has a small significance in conveying aerosol particles onto the surface of the substrate when compared to thermophoresis.

The homogenous quality of the glass layers contained in the planar waveguide (desired thickness of the glass layer, desired composition of the glass layer, local flaws contained in the glass layer) has a very central meaning in the optical properties of the planar waveguide and further in the usability of the planar waveguide. In addition to the optical properties, the mechanical properties of different glass layers of the planar waveguide, for example the thermal expansion properties, must be adapted so that they are suitable for each other to attain durable structures. All the aforementioned factors require a very precise control of the manufacturing process.

The main purpose of the present invention is to introduce a new method based on the use of a thermal reactor to manufacture a planar glass coating suitable for use especially in a planar waveguide, in which method the control and adjustability of the manufacturing process are significantly enhanced when compared to methods of prior art. To attain this purpose, the method according to the invention is primarily characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of the independent claim 1.

It is also an aim of the invention to provide a device implementing the aforementioned method. The device according to the invention, in turn, is primarily characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of the independent claim 10.

The invention is essentially based on the idea that when a thermal reactor, such as a flame is used for producing the aerosol particles necessary for providing a glass coating, thus, instead of moving the aerosol particles move to the substrate to be coated substantially only as a result of the forces produced by the thermophoresis, a flow of aerosol particles and gases produced in the thermal reactor is arranged by means of a suitable pressure difference from said reactor towards the substrate. Thus, the aerosol particles moving along with the flow of gas produced by the pressure difference have a significant linear momentum exceeding the thermophoretic forces, wherein as a result of this linear momentum the aerosol particles impact upon the substrate and adhere thereto, in other words the formation of the glass coating on the substrate takes place on the basis of so-called impaction. The flow of gas necessary for impaction is produced by arranging a suitable pressure difference over a nozzle part placed between the thermal reactor and the substrate, said gas flow travelling through said nozzle part.

The movement of the aerosol particles with the gas flow through the nozzle part enables a significantly better control of the coating process when compared to prior art, because according to the invention, it is now possible to guide the aerosol particles by affecting the gas flow so that they impact as a particle jet to a selected point in the substrate, and if necessary, the aerosol particles can be further classified on the basis of their aerodynamical size to form a coating of more uniform quality. The aforementioned size classification can be implemented on the basis of aerodynamic separation by size, the physical principles of which are known as such from devices intended for measurement and separation of aerosol particles.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the aerosol particles produced in a thermal reactor are guided with the gas flow through a nozzle part guiding the flow to impact as a particle jet on the surface of the substrate, wherein said impaction enables the production of a considerably denser coating layer when compared to the production of a coating based on thermophoresis. From the coating layer produced by means of the aforementioned method according to the invention it is possible to produce a very homogenous final glass layer in connection with sintering.

By the design of the nozzle part it is possible to affect the particle jet falling on the surface of the substrate, the shape of the cross-section and the speed of the particle jet, if necessary, wherein the particle jet, for example, be restricted so that it is directed only to a selected point in the substrate. Thus, by moving the substrate with respect to the particle jet, transversely to the direction of propagation of the particle jet, it is possible to attain a coating layer with a uniform thickness on the entire area of the surface of the substrate, or by moving the substrate in a suitable manner with respect to the particle jet it is possible to adjust the thickness of the coating layer, if necessary, so that it is different in different sections of the surface of the substrate. By adjusting the velocity of the gas flow falling on the substrate, it is possible to classify the aerosol particles impacting on the substrate further on the basis of their aerodynamic size in such a manner that only particles larger than a selected size impact on the substrate, thus forming the coating. By means of the aforementioned size classification functioning in the same way as a high-pass particle filter, the size distribution of the aerosol particles participating in the formation of the coating can be narrowed down by preventing the aerosol particles smaller than a selected size from participating in the formation of the coating. The coating formed thereby has a more homogenous quality.

In a second embodiment of the invention, before the gas flow is guided from the thermal reactor through the nozzle part towards the surface of the substrate, the gas flow and the aerosol particles contained therein are first guided via a so-called pre-separation stage. This pre- separation stage functions as a low-pass particle filter, removing the aerosol particles larger than a selected size from the gas flow before guiding the gas flow and the aerosol particles contained therein via the nozzle part to the actual substrate to form the coating. By means of the pre-separation stage it is possible to prevent the travel of too large particles coming from the thermal reactor on the substrate. Such particles can be produced for example when impurities occur in the gas burner used in the formation of the flame functioning as a thermal reactor and when the impurities are further released in the gas flow.

If necessary, by means of combining the above-described solutions according to the invention that function in the same way as high-pass and low-pass particle filters, it is possible to adjust the size distribution of the aerosol particles participating in the formation of the coating to be desired, wherein the aerosol particles participating in the formation of the coating also have as uniform a quality as possible, and thus a homogenous composition is attained for the coating that is being formed.

By means of the present invention, it is thus possible to better control and adjust the manufacturing process of planar glass coatings in comparison to methods of prior art based on the use of a thermal reactor. This also enables for example the manufacture of optical planar waveguides of higher quality.

The following more detailed description of the invention by means of examples will more clearly illustrate, for anyone skilled in the art, the advantageous embodiments of the invention as well as the advantages to be achieved with the invention in relation to prior art.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Fig. 1 illustrates in principle a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 2 shows in principle the size distribution of the aerosol particles impacting on the substrate in the situation of

Fig. 1 ,

Figs 3a to 3c illustrate in principle the location of the opening/openings of the nozzle part in a top view i.e. when seen in the direction of propagation of the gas flow,

Fig. 4 illustrates in principle a second preferred embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 5 illustrates in principle the size distribution of the aerosol particles impacting on the substrate in the situation of Fig. 4.

Figure 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of the invention. A thermal reactor 10 is enclosed in a first chamber 11. The first chamber 11 is connected to a second chamber 13 by means of a nozzle part 12 in such a manner that the first chamber 11 and the second chamber 13 together form a gas tight system separated from the ambient atmosphere. The thermal reactor 10 can be a burner, in which a flame is produced by burning combustible and oxidizing combustion gases 14, and in which flame the reactants 15 necessary in the formation of glass are brought for example in the form of aerosol droplets in a carrier gas, from which said aerosol droplets aerosol particles 16 necessary in the formation of the glass coating are further generated. It is possible to use for example hydrogen + oxygen or methane + oxygen as combustion gases 14.

The reactants 15 can be for example silicon or germanium tetrachloride, or chlorine-free reactants such as TEOS, tetraethylortosilicate or GEOS, tetraethoxygermanium in a suitable format. To form so-called multicomponent glass, the reactants 15 can, in addition to the above-mentioned agents, also contain rare earth metals and lanthanides, such as erbium and/or neodymium, as well as aluminium, phosphorus, borium and/or fluorine.

Advantageously, the thermal reactor 10 is a flame spray gun as disclosed in the Finnish patent No. 98832 and in the international application PCT/FI99/00818, in which flame spray gun some of the reactants 15 necessary in the formation of the glass material can be conveyed to the flame 10 in liquid format in such a manner that said reactant/reactants are atomized into aerosol droplets only in the immediate vicinity of the flame 10, right before they are conveyed to the flame 10. The considerable advantage attained hereby is that the single droplets supplied to the flame 10 contain the different components of the used liquid reactant precisely in the original ratio of said components, because the time is not sufficient for the vapour pressures of these components that differ from each other to affect the composition of the aerosol droplets. If the aerosol droplets are formed somewhere else, for example further away from the flame 10 in a separate container from which they are conveyed further to the flame 10 by means of carrier gas, the components having a higher vapour pressure are thus supplied more efficiently when compared to the components of lower vapour pressure, wherein the composition of the aerosol droplets does not precisely correspond to the original composition of the liquid used as a reactant. When the carrier gas is used, components are also vaporized from the surface of small aerosol droplets in an inhomogeneous relation depending on the differences between said components, wherein the composition of the aerosol droplets changes when they are conveyed by carrier gas.

When a flame spray gun disclosed in said Finnish patent No. 98832 or in the international application PCT/FI99/00818 is used as a thermal reactor 10, a further advantage is that it is possible to supply larger amounts of components in the flame 10 when compared to such methods in which the aerosol droplets are formed further away from the flame 10 and conveyed to the flame 10 with the carrier gas. When the carrier gas is used together with large feed volumes of liquid reactants 15, the sizes of the aerosol particles tend to grow during the conveying for example as a result of coagulation or agglomeration before the aerosol droplets end up in the flame 10. In addition, deposition tends to occur on the walls of the conveying channel that is being used, for example on the walls of the tubing, and in this way the conveying channel also tends to become contaminated, which makes the control of the process even more difficult. When a flame spray gun disclosed in the Finnish patent No. 98832 or in the international application PCT/FI99/00818 is used as a thermal reactor 10, the size of the aerosol particles produced from the aerosol droplets is typically in the order of 20 to 80 nm, wherein the narrow size distribution of the aerosol particles enables a good yield, i.e. a good growth rate of the coating, when the size classification according to the invention is used.

The invention is not, however, restricted solely to the use of the aforementioned flame spray gun as a thermal reactor 10. The thermal reactor 10 can also be any other method obvious for anyone skilled in the art for producing such a high local temperature, in which the corresponding reactions that generate aerosol particles are produced. Such possibilities include for example different kinds of plasmas, which can be produced for example by means of an electric current or laser light. The reactants 15 necessary in the production of a glass material can also be introduced to the process in any other way known as such. In the thermal reactor 10 the aerosol particles 16 produced from the reactants 15 move through the nozzle part 12 from the first chamber 11 to the second chamber 13 and towards the substrate 17 along with the gas flow 18, which gas flow 18 is produced by arranging a suitable pressure difference between the first chamber 11 and the second chamber 13, over the nozzle part 12. Advantageously, the aforementioned pressure difference is attained by means of a suction pump 19 that removes gas from the second chamber 13. It is, of course, obvious that the pressure difference can also be attained by arranging a positive pressure in the first chamber 11 in relation to the second chamber 13. Thus, gas can flow out of the second chamber also without a suction pump 19.

The substrate 17 can be made of silicon, glass, quartz or another material suitable for the purpose. Advantageously, the substrate 17 is a thin, round wafer, for example a silicon wafer, but it is also possible to use substrates of another shape.

When the gas flow 18 hits the substrate 17, it changes its direction abruptly. Thus, the smallest aerosol particles 16 whose aerodynamic size is such that they can follow the gas flow 18 that changes its direction rapidly when it meets and bypasses the substrate 17, do not hit the substrate 17 at all, and thus they do not participate in the formation of the coating. The aerosol particles larger than the aforementioned size are not, in turn, capable of following the gas flow 18 and they impact upon the substrate 17, thus participating in the forming of the coating. The velocity of the gas flow 18 hitting the substrate 17 and thereby the size classification (high-pass) of the aerosol particles can be adjusted by changing the distance of the nozzle part 12 from the substrate 17 and/or by varying the size of the opening/openings 20 in the nozzle part and/or by changing the pressure difference affecting over the nozzle part 12. The physical principles of aerodynamic size classification are well known as such, and therefore it is not necessary to describe them in more detail in this context. Fig. 2 shows, in principle, the size distribution of the aerosol particles 16 impacting upon the substrate 17 and forming the glass coating in the situation of Fig. 1. Only the aerosol particles larger than a selected threshold value (high-pass) are allowed to impact upon the substrate 17, which particles belong in Fig. 2 to the area marked with a hatching.

The nozzle part 12 can contain one or more openings 20 for guiding the gas flow towards the substrate 17. Figs 3a to 3c illustrate in a top view, i.e. in the direction of propagation of the gas flow 18, in principle some examples of the location and shape of the opening/openings 20 in the nozzle part 12. In Figs 3a to 3c, the location of the round substrate 17 in relation to the nozzle part 12 is shown in principle with a broken line. By moving the nozzle part 12 (as well as the thermal reactor 10) with respect to the substrate 17, it is possible to attain either a coating layer with a uniform thickness on the entire surface area of the substrate 17, or the thickness of the coating layer can be adjusted, if necessary, so that it is different in different sections of the surface of the substrate 17.

In contrast with Figs 3a to 3c, the nozzle part 12 can also be considerably smaller in relation to the substrate 17, when compared to what is shown in Figs 3a to 3c, wherein the particle jet can be directed more precisely to a desired point in the substrate 17. This enables the forming of patterns on the coating layer by moving the nozzle part 12 and the substrate 17 with respect to each other. In addition to the thickness of the coating layer, the local properties of the coating layer can also be changed, if necessary, by varying the supply/composition of the reactants 15 when the nozzle part 12 is moved with respect to the substrate 17. In the aforementioned ways it is also possible to produce a coating layer of uniform thickness, in which the composition of the glass material and thereby the properties of the glass material vary locally.

The properties of the coating process and the coating formed on the substrate 17 can also be affected by changing the distance of the substrate 17 from the nozzle part 12. This affects, first of all, the aerodynamic size classification of the aerosol particles impacted on the surface of the substrate 17 when the flow conditions of the gas flow 18 between the nozzle 12 and the substrate 17 change, and, secondarily, it can also be utilized to affect the retention time of the aerosol particles 16 in the gas flow 18. The aforementioned retention time affects the properties of the aerosol particles 16 and thus also the properties of the coating formed on the substrate 17.

The movement of the substrate in the second chamber 13 in relation to the nozzle part 12 can also be implemented by means of other methods known as such. It is also possible that the relative motion between the nozzle part 12 and the substrate 17 is implemented by moving the nozzle part 12 and the thermal reactor 10 in relation to the second chamber 13, the substrate 17 remaining thus stationary with respect to said chamber 13.

The nozzle part 12 according to Fig. 3c enables the formation of a glass layer whose thickness changes in a controlled manner in one direction transverse to the opening 20 (in Fig. 3c direction z) on the surface of the substrate 17 by moving the nozzle part 12 and the substrate 17 in relation to each other in said direction z. This way for example a so-called taper element can be formed, which makes it possible to slowly change the thickness of the light channel, i.e. the core layer of the optical planar waveguide within a fixed length of path (in the direction z) so that the light propagating in the core layer does not escape to the surrounding cladding layers. Thus, it is possible to adjust the coupling of different photoconductors (for example optical fibre) or light sources (for example semiconductor laser) in the edge of a planar waveguide with good efficiency by arranging the sizes of the light channels so that they correspond to each other.

For the duration of the coating process the substrate 17 is tightly fastened on a base 21 to attain good thermal conductivity between said base 21 and substrate 17. The aforementioned fastening can take place in a manner known as such for example by sucking the substrate 17 with negative pressure against the base 21 , or the fastening can also take place by means of any other method that is obvious for anyone skilled in the art. The base 21 can be arranged to be heated and/or cooled, wherein by means of the base 21 it is possible to adjust the temperature of the substrate 17 to control the coating process.

By increasing the temperature of the substrate 17 by heating the base 21 , it is, if necessary, possible to prevent the smallest aerosol particles 16 from adhering to the substrate 17, because the hot substrate 17 thus causes a so-called reversed thermophoretic reaction, resulting in that the strong thermal movement of the smallest aerosol particles 16 prevents them from adhering to the substrate 17.

To prevent the aerosol particles 16 from adhering to the walls of the first chamber 11 and/or the second chamber 13, the walls of said chambers are arranged to be heated in sections where it is necessary for example by means of electric resistors. Furthermore, it is possible that the nozzle part 12 is also arranged to be heated.

Fig. 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention, in which before the gas flow 18 is guided from the thermal reactor 10 through the nozzle part 12 towards the surface of the substrate 17, the gas flow 18 is first guided via a so-called pre-separation stage 41 , 42. The pre- separation stage composed of a flow guide 41 and a collection substrate 42 functions as a low-pass particle filter removing the aerosol particles 16 larger than a selected size from the gas flow 18, which aerosol particles impact and adhere on the collection substrate 42.

By means of the pre-separation stage 41 , 42 it is possible to prevent the access of too large aerosol particles 16 coming from the thermal reactor 10 on the substrate 17. Such particles can be produced to a certain extent when the process that forms aerosol particles proceeds normally, or too large particles can also be produced temporarily in a situation where the normal operation of the process is disturbed. Such a disturbance can occur for example when the gas burner used in the formation of flame becomes sooted, and when impurities are released in the gas flow 18, or for example when laser ablation is used, in other words plasma produced by means of laser light to vaporize reactants from solid state into aerosol particles.

Fig. 5 shows in principle the size distribution of the aerosol particles 16 impacting upon the substrate 17 and forming the glass coating in the situation of Fig. 4. Only the aerosol particles that in their aerodynamic size belong to a set size class, in Fig. 5 to the area marked with a hatching, are allowed to impact upon the substrate 17. In Fig. 5, the low-pass particle filtering resulting from the pre-separation stage 41 , 42 is marked with a curve 2, and the high-pass particle filtering resulting from the mutual effect of the nozzle part 12 and the substrate 17 is marked with a curve 1 (cf. Fig. 2).

If necessary, the aforementioned pre-separation stage 41 , 42 can also comprise several separate and successive impactor stages formed by the flow guide 41 and the collection substrate 42. The particle size classification based on the use of impactor stages, the implementation and general operation of such an impactor, including the dimensioning of the successive stages in a cascade impactor, as well as the closer determination of the aerodynamic size of aerosol particles are known as such for anyone skilled in the art and do not directly relate to the invention, and therefore they will not be further discussed in this context.

If necessary, the pre-separation stage 41 , 42 can be arranged to be heated for example electrically to prevent the undesirable adherence of the aerosol particles 16 on the surfaces of the different components in the pre-separation stage 41, 42.

When the desired layer of aerosol particles has been formed on the surface of the substrate 17 by means of the above-presented embodiments of the invention, the formation/growth of the coating layer is terminated either by turning off the thermal reactor 10 entirely or by terminating the supply of reactants 15 used in the production of aerosol particles to the thermal reactor 10 and/or by moving the substrate aside 17 from underneath the jet of aerosol particles. Thereafter the coating layer on the surface of the substrate 17, which at this stage is still a porous layer, composed of particles that have melted together only partly, is sintered to form a tight glass material by increasing the temperature of the base 21 in such a manner that the particles impacted on the substrate melt together, thus forming a homogenous glass layer. Alternatively, the substrate 17 can be transferred to a separate oven for the sintering by means of heating, in which oven the sintering is conducted by means of methods known as such.

In conclusion it can be said that by means of the method and device according to the invention it is thus possible to attain a significantly better control and adjustability of the manufacturing process when compared to methods of prior art based on the use of a thermal reactor. According to the invention, the aerosol particles 16 forming the coating on the substrate 17 can be guided more precisely to a desired location on the substrate 17 when compared to prior art, and by moving the substrate 17 with respect to the nozzle part 12, it is possible to attain either a coating layer with a uniform thickness on the entire surface area of the substrate 17 or correspondingly, a coating layer the thickness of which changes in a controlled manner as desired in different sections of the substrate 17. Furthermore, when the supply/composition of the reactants 15 is changed when the nozzle part 12 is moved with respect to the substrate 17, it is possible to produce coating with different properties in different sections of the substrate 17.

The size classification of the aerosol particles forming the coating on the substrate 17, which becomes possible by means of the present invention, enables the production of coatings of higher quality when compared to methods of prior art. In methods of prior art, the small particles that end up on the substrate 17 for example deviate in their composition from larger particles having the desired size distribution, because the production process of the same on the surface of the particles for the part of condensation/coagulation/agglomeration of different components, taking place on the surface of the particles deviates from the production process of the larger aerosol particles. The small particles can also cause bubbles or similar flaws when the glass layer is sintered. For the same reason, larger aerosol particles may also have a different composition resulting from their distinctive production process, and they can also cause local flaws at the sintering stage. Especially the large particles resulting from the impurities in the device or another malfunction cause flaws in the coating. By means of the invention it is possible to narrow down the size distribution of the aerosol particles forming the coating on the substrate 17, wherein said aerosol particles have a more uniform mutual composition, and thus, the coating formed from the same becomes very uniform in quality.

It is, of course, obvious for anyone skilled in the art that by combining in different ways the methods, modes of operation and device structures presented above in connection with different embodiments of the invention, it is possible to provide various embodiments of the invention in accordance with the spirit of the invention. Therefore the above-presented examples must not be interpreted as restrictive to the invention, but the embodiments of the invention can be freely varied within the scope of the inventive features presented in the claims hereinbelow.

It is, of course, obvious for anyone skilled in the art that the appended drawings are only intended for illustration of the invention, and thus the structures and components presented therein are not drawn to scale.

Claims

Claims:

1. A method for forming a planar glass coating suitable for use especially in planar waveguides, in which method a thermal reactor (10), such as flame or plasma is used to produce aerosol particles (16) from reactants (15), which said aerosol particles (16) are guided on the surface of a substrate (17) to form a glass coating, characterized in that the aerosol particles (16) produced from reactants (15) in the thermal reactor (10) are guided with a gas flow (18) flowing through a nozzle part (12) to impact upon the substrate (17) as a particle jet, which said gas flow (18) is generated by arranging a pressure difference over the nozzle part (12).

2. The method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the design and/or placement of the nozzle part (12) in relation to the substrate (17) are/is utilized in guiding the gas flow (18) and the aerosol particles (16) contained therein to impact to the desired location and/or desired area on the substrate (17).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that by the design and/or placement of the nozzle part (12) in relation to the substrate (17) or by affecting the velocity of the gas flow flowing through the nozzle part (12) by means of pressure difference, the gas flow (18) and the aerosol particles (16) contained therein are guided to meet the substrate (17) in a desired manner to classify the particles impacting upon the substrate (17) on the basis of their aerodynamic size in a manner similar to a high-pass particle filter.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 3, characterized in that before the gas flow (18) and the particles (16) contained therein are guided through the nozzle part (12) to the substrate (17), the gas flow (18) and the aerosol particles (16) contained therein are guided through one or more pre-separation stages (41, 42) functioning as a low-pass particle filter, each pre- separation stage comprising a flow guide (41) and a collection substrate (42) following the same in the direction of the gas flow.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the thermal reactor (10) is a flame spray gun, in which flame spray gun some of the reactants (15) necessary in the formation of the glass material are conveyed to the flame 10 in liquid format in such a manner that said reactant/s (15) are atomized into aerosol droplets only in the immediate vicinity of the flame (10), right before they are conveyed to the flame (10).

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the reactant (15) or one of its component is silicon tetrachloride or germanium tetrachloride, TEOS (tetraethylortosilicate), or GEOS (tetraethoxygermanium).

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 6, characterized in that to form a multicomponent glass, the reactant (15) or one of its component contains erbium, neodymium, another lanthanide, aluminium, phosphorus, borium and/or fluorine.

8. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the nozzle part (12) and the substrate (17) are moved with respect to each other substantially in the plane parallel to the surface of the substrate (17) in such a manner that the thermal reactor (10) remains in a fixed position in relation to the nozzle part (12).

9. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the nozzle part (12) and the substrate (17) are moved with respect to each other substantially in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the surface of the substrate (17) to change the distance between the nozzle part (12) and the substrate (17).

10. A device for forming a planar glass coating, suitable to be used especially in planar waveguides, which device comprises a thermal reactor (10), such as flame or plasma for producing aerosol particles (16) from reactants (15) and means for guiding the aerosol particles (16) on the surface of a substrate (17) to form a glass coating, characterized in that said device comprises at least

— a first chamber (11 ) and — a second chamber (13) and

— a nozzle part (12) connecting the first (11) and the second (13) chamber in such a manner that the first chamber (11) and the second (13) chamber are arranged to form together a gas tight system separated from the ambient atmosphere, and — a thermal reactor (10) placed in the first chamber (11), and

— a substrate (17) placed on a base (21) in the second chamber (13), and

— means (19) for arranging a pressure difference over the nozzle part (12),

wherein the aerosol particles (16) produced from the reactants (15) in the thermal reactor (10) are guided with a gas flow (18) produced by the pressure difference and travelling through the nozzle part (12) to impact upon the substrate (17) as a particle jet.

11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that the design and/or placement of the nozzle part (12) in relation to the substrate (17) is arranged to guide the gas flow (18) and the aerosol particles (16) contained therein to impact to the desired location and/or desired area on the substrate (17).

12. The device according to claim 10 or 11 , characterized in that the design and/or the placement of the nozzle part (12) in relation to the substrate (17) are/is arranged to guide the gas flow (18) caused by the pressure difference and the aerosol particles (16) contained therein to meet the substrate (17) in a desired manner to classify the particles impacting upon the substrate (17) on the basis of their aerodynamic size, in a manner similar to a high-pass particle filter.

13. The device according to any of the preceding claims 10 to 12, characterized in that said device also contains one or more pre- separation stages (41 , 42) functioning as a low-pass particle filter, each pre-separation stage comprising a flow guide (41) and a collection substrate (42) following the same in the direction of the gas flow, which pre-separation stage/stages (41 , 42) are placed before the nozzle part (12) in the flow direction of the gas flow (18) and which pre-separation stage/stages are arranged to function as a low-pass particle filter/filters.

14. The device according to any of the preceding claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the thermal reactor (10) is a flame spray gun, in which flame spray gun some of the reactants (15) necessary in the formation of the glass material are conveyed to the flame (10) in liquid format in such a manner that said reactant/s (15) are atomized into aerosol droplets only in the immediate vicinity of the flame (10), right before they are conveyed to the flame (10).

15. The device according to any of the preceding claims 10 to 14, characterized in that said device also comprises means for moving the nozzle part (12) and the substrate (17) with respect to each other substantially in a plane parallel to the surface of the substrate (17) in such a manner that the thermal reactor (10) remains in a fixed position in relation to the nozzle part (12).

16. The device according to any of the preceding claims 10 to 14, characterized in that said device also comprises means for moving the nozzle part (12) and the substrate (17) with respect to each other substantially in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate (17) to change the distance between the nozzle part (12) and the substrate (17).

17. The device according to any of the claims 10 to 16, characterized in that said device also comprises means for heating the walls of the first chamber (11) and/or the second chamber (13).

18. The device according to any of the claims 10 to 17, characterized in that said device also comprises means for heating the components of the nozzle part (12) and/or the components of the pre-separation stage/stages (41 ,42).

19. The device according to any of the claims 10 to 18, characterized in that said device also comprises means for heating and/or cooling the base (21) of the substrate (17).

20. The device according to any of the preceding claims 10 to 19, characterized in that the nozzle part (12) contains one or more openings (20) with a circular and/or rectangular cross-section.

21. The device according to any of the preceding claims 10 to 20, characterized in that the nozzle part (12) contains one slot-like opening (20) to form a glass layer whose thickness changes in a controlled manner in a direction (z) transverse to said opening (20) on the surface of the substrate (17).