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Natural Science Forum / Physics / Optics / November 2004Silicate bonding
Hi all, I just saw an article in "Opto & Laser Europe", November 2004 issue, page 14. Here is a short extract of it: **** ... A technology called silicate bonding, pioneered by Stanford University and optimized by the Glasgow team, is used to permanently "lock" the parts to a glass baseplate, without the use of any non-glass material. This gives the required long-term positional stability of better than 10 picometers over 20 minutes. "Essentially it works like chemical welding," explained Caldwell. "You put a little drop of silicate hydroxide between the surfaces to be joined and it cross-links the bonds of the glass to create a very permanent and stable bond." ... **** Does anyone know more about this technology? Thanks, Michael I believe that the process was invented by Jason Gwo (currently at Lawence Livermore National Lab I believe) while he was as Stanford University working on the Gravity Probe B project. Stanford University has a patent on the process. I don't know what refinements have been developed by people in Glasgow. Bret Cannon > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Thanks, > Michael > I believe that the process was invented by Jason Gwo (currently at Lawence > Livermore National Lab I believe) while he was as Stanford University > working on the Gravity Probe B project. Stanford University has a patent on > the process. I don't know what refinements have been developed by people in > Glasgow. This piqued my curiosity. The process is covered by US Patents 6,548,176 (Hydroxide-catalyzed bonding) and 6,284,085 (Ultra precision and reliable bonding method). The process is dead simple. US Patents can be seen at http://www.uspto.gov. Joe Gwinn ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Hi all, > > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Thanks, > > Michael Dissolved glass as glue for glass... Another patent with infinitely small invention height. Rene > I believe that the process was invented by Jason Gwo (currently at Lawence > Livermore National Lab I believe) while he was as Stanford University > working on the Gravity Probe B project. Stanford University has a patent on > the process. I don't know what refinements have been developed by people in > Glasgow. > Dissolved glass as glue for glass... > Another patent with infinitely small invention height. > > Rene So let's have a show of hands: To how many people who attach optical components would this have been an obvious method? An invention doesn't have to be obscure or complex to be significant and patentable. --- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/ Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/ +Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm | Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive traffic on Repairfaq.org. Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored. To contact me, please use the Feedback Form in the FAQs. > > I believe that the process was invented by Jason Gwo (currently at > > Lawence Livermore National Lab I believe) while he was as Stanford > > University working on the Gravity Probe B project. Stanford > > University has a patent on the process. I don't know what > > refinements have been developed by people in Glasgow. > So let's have a show of hands: To how many people who attach optical > components would this have been an obvious method? An invention doesn't > have to be obscure or complex to be significant and patentable. In our present dysfunctional patent system an invention also doesn't have to be novel, or new, or significant, or inventive, or nonobvious, or clearly or adequately described, or understandable, or not have been widely known previously, or not have been openly published previously, or describe an invention that works, or a concept that makes technical sense, or that even obeys the laws of physics. >>Dissolved glass as glue for glass... >>Another patent with infinitely small invention height. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > components would this have been an obvious method? An invention doesn't > have to be obscure or complex to be significant and patentable. about 10 years ago , myself and a couple of colleagues did briefly toy with using sol-gels to bond optical fibres to glass blocks but the sol-gels we had ready access to weren't suitable for the intended purpose. Wrong viscosity. cheers David > Dissolved glass as glue for glass... > Another patent with infinitely small invention height. If this was so obvious, how come somebody didn't come up with it aeons ago? It solved a long standing problem, for which no simple solution had yet emerged. One mark of a good invention is just this - in retrospect, it seems so obvious. Joe Gwinn > Rene > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > the process. I don't know what refinements have been developed by people > > in Glasgow. |
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