US Patent 7506521 High transmission synthetic silica glass and method of making same

Disclosed are high purity synthetic silica material having an internal transmission at 193 nm of at least 99.65%/cm and method of preparing such material. The material is also featured by a high compositional homogeneity in a plane transverse to the intended optical axis. The soot-to-glass process for making the material includes a step of consolidating the soot preform in the presence of H2O and/or O2.