Laser spectroscopy of atoms confined in vapor cells can be strongly affected by the presence of background gases. A significant source of vacuum contamination is the permeation of gases such as helium (He) through the walls of the cell. Aluminosilicate glass (ASG) is a material with a helium permeation rate that is many orders of magnitude lower than borosilicate glass, which is commonly used f...

The characteristics and properties of mixtures of a borosilicate glass and ZrO2 fibres obtained from compacts isothermally sintered are presented. Three different particle sizes of glass powder and different sintering temperatures and times have been used to reveal the influence of the specific surface area and the glass matrix viscosity on sintering. The fundamental developed aspects are the s...

The fabrication of an ion-exchanged waveguide beam deflector containing a photowritten grating is described. The planar waveguide was fabricated by thermal K(+) exchange in a borosilicate glass. The grating was written by photobleaching an absorption defect centered at 330 am, which was created by gamma-ray irradiation of the glass. The bleaching was accomplished with the 351-nm line from an ar...