Abstract
Use of commercial fumed silica as the starting material for preparation of optical waveguides by sol-gel techniques has been viewed with skepticism. Impurity levels in this material, especially those of transition metal oxides, are too high for waveguide applications. However, we find that during dehydration/consolidation in an atmosphere of Cl 2 and He from which O 2 is excluded that most impurities will be removed as a volatile chloride. This is demonstrated in the case of a sol to which 1 wt% hematite was added. After dehydration/consolidation this level was reduced to 24 ppb's.
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