Novel implementation of laser heated pedestal growth for the rapid drawing of sapphire fibers

Abstract
A new version of laser heated pedestal growth system is described which is amenable for the rapid growth of single crystal fibers. The system incorporates a Gaussian reflector to reshape the radial intensity profile of the CO2laser beam. When He is used as the growth atmosphere, high optical quality sapphire fibers can be produced at rates as high as 2 cm/min with this apparatus.