Claims
- 1. An optical instrument comprising:a spectral light source, wherein said light source emits light in the far UV range, wherein said light travels along a light path, and wherein said light has at least one wavelength; a means for receiving a sample within said light path; a sensor assembly, wherein said sensor assembly produces a signal upon receiving light, and a calibration medium, wherein said calibration medium assumes a position in said light path between said spectral light source and said sensor assembly, wherein said calibration medium comprises: a gel-silica based glass monolith, wherein said gel-silica based monolith is a type IV porous gel-silica base glass, wherein said type IV porous gel-silica base glass has a UV transmittance of about 50% at 250 nm, and a rare-earth material dopant, wherein said rare-earth material dopant is selected from the group consisting of atoms of a rare-earth class that have partially filled 4f electron shells.
- 2. The optical instrument of claim 1, wherein said type IV porous gel-silica base glass is replaced with type V dense gel-silica base glass.
- 3. The optical instrument of claim 1, wherein said dopant is selected from the group consisting of atomic numbers 58 through 69 and 70.
- 4. The optical instrument of claim 3, wherein said dopant has a spectral range from about 190 nm to about 700 nm.
- 5. The optical instrument of claim 3, wherein said dopant is erbium.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/834,061 filed Apr. 11, 1997 pending, the entire teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Orignac et al., Applied Physics Lett., vol. 69, No. 7, pp. 895-897, (1996).* |
Xu et al., Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 194, pp. 235-240, (1996). |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/834061 |
Apr 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/599231 |
|
US |