Abstract: A quartz optical waveguide comprising a substrate, a ridge-form core part formed on said substrate and a part which surrounds said core part and has a lower refractive index than that of said core part, wherein a refractive index changes continuously at an interface between said core part and said part having the lower refractive index, which has a decreased transmission loss and a connection loss when connected with an optical fiber.

Abstract: A glass preform for use in the fabrication of an optical fiber having a reduced transmission loss is produced by synthesizing a soot preform by a vapor synthesis method and consolidating the soot preform in an electric furnace to obtain a glass preform, wherein an intermediate body consisting of a core portion and an inner part of a cladding portion is consolidated under atmospheric pressure and an outer part of the cladding portion which surrounds a periphery of the intermediated body is consolidated under reduced pressure or in vacuo.

Abstract: An optical switch with improved stability which has a flat waveguide including at least two optical waveguides which are made of a glass containing silica and arranged closely each other, at least a core part of each of the optical waveguides consisting of an amorphous material which is prepared by a sol-gel method and contains organic molecules doped and orientated in a direction of electrostatic field by the application of an electrostatic field, and means for changing an optical path through change of a refractive index of the core part by applying an external force to the core part, which means is provided near the core part.

Abstract: A glass article is produced at a high production rate and a high yield by jetting a glass-forming raw material from a multi-port burner, synthesizing glass soot through hydrolysis of the glass-forming raw material, depositing the glass soot to form a soot preform and heating and vitrifying the soot preform to produce a transparent glass article, wherein the glass-forming raw material is vaporized by heating it at a temperature higher than its boiling point and directly supplied to the burner, the vaporized glass-forming raw material and a fuel gas for synthesizing glass soot are supplied to an inner port of the multi-port burner and a fuel gas for heating a formed preform is supplied to an outer port of the multi-port burner, and a molar ratio of water generated by a reaction of the fuel gas for synthesizing glass soot to the glass-foring raw material is from to 2 to 3.

Abstract: There is disclosed an optical component capable of amolifying function by itself and a method of producing thereof. The component includes a light amplifying portion therein and the light amplifying portion includes active elements which serves the light amplification. In the producing method, the amplifying portion is, for example, formed by utilizing sol-gel method to introduce the active elements.

Abstract: A rare earth element-doped glass in which the rare earth element is homogeneously doped is produced by a method coprises hydrolyzing a metal alkoxide of the formula:M(OR).sub.4wherein M is a metal and R is an alkyl group in a liquid medium selected from the group consisting of alcohols and water in the presence of a compound of a rare earth element and condensing the hydrolyzed material to form a rare earth element-doped glass.

Abstract: A quartz optical waveguide comprising a support, a quartz glass core part formed on said support and a part which surrounds said core part and has a lower refractive index than that of said core part, wherein said core part and/or a part of said lower refractive index part through which light is guided have a functional material waveguide film containing a functional material, which has a function such as laser amplification or a linear optical effect.

Abstract: A quartz optical waveguide comprising a substrate, a ridge-form core part formed on said substrate and a part which surrounds said core part and has a lower refractive index than that of said core part, wherein a refractive index changes continuously at an interface between said core part and said part having the lower refractive index, which has a decreased transmission loss and a connection loss when connected with an optical fiber.

Abstract: A process for producing a crystalline oxide of vanadium-phosphorus system, which comprises hydrothermally treating an aqueous medium containing (1) a tetravalent vanadium compound, (2) a pentavalent phosphorus compound, (3) a coordinate compound having at least two ligand atoms selected from the group consisting of oxygen atoms and nitrogen atoms and (4) a compound of at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt and chromium, to form a crystalline oxide of vanadium-phosphorus system having an X-ray diffraction pattern shown in Table A:TABLE A ______________________________________ X-ray diffraction peaks (Anticathode: Cu--K.alpha.) 2.theta. (.+-.0.2.degree.) ______________________________________ 15.6.degree. 19.7.degree. 24.3.degree. 27.2.degree. 28.8.degree. 30.5.degree. 33.8.degree.

Abstract: A process for producing a crystalline oxide of vanadium-phosphorus system, which comprises hydrothermally treating an aqueous medium containing (1) a tetravalent vanadium compound, (2) a pentavalent phosphorus compound, (3) a coordinate compound having at least two ligand atoms selected from the group consisting of oxygen atoms and nitrogen atoms and (4) a compound of at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt and chromium, to form a crystalline oxide of vanadium-phosphorus system having an X-ray diffraction pattern shown in Table A:TABLE A ______________________________________ X-ray diffraction peaks (Anticathode: Cu-K.alpha.) 2.theta. (.+-. 0.2.degree.) ______________________________________ 15.6.degree. 19.7.degree. 24.3.degree. 27.2.degree. 28.8.degree. 30.5.degree. 33.8.degree.

Abstract: A glass preform for use in the fabrication of an optical fiber having little bubbles is produced by a method comprising depositing glass soot on a periphery of a starting glass rod to form a porous glass preform, heating and sintering the porous glass preform in a helium atmosphere to consolidate the porous glass preform and then heating the sintered glass in an atmosphere containing an inert gas except helium having partial pressure of the inert gas of not lower than 0.8 atm. to obtain a transparent glass preform.