Claims
- 1. A composite garnet prepared by a process comprising the steps of:
- optically contacting surfaces of a first and a second garnet to form an assembly comprising an optically contacted interface, wherein said optically contacted interface is indicated by a complete disappearance of interference fringes at said interface; and
- bonding said optically contacted interface by gradually heating said assembly to a bonding temperature below the fusion temperature of said first and second garnets, but at a temperature and for a time sufficient to diffusion bond said optically contacted surfaces.
- 2. The composite garnet of claim 1, wherein said first garnet has a first melting temperature and said second garnet has a second melting temperature, and wherein said bonding temperature is a temperature corresponding from about 0.4 to about 0.9 times the value of the lower of said first and second melting temperatures.
- 3. The composite garnet of claim 1, wherein said first and second garnets are selected from the group consisting of naturally occurring garnets and artificially grown garnets.
- 4. The composite garnet of claim 1, wherein said first and second garnets are selected from the group consisting of yttrium aluminum garnet, aluminum oxide derived gemstones, red Almadine garnets, and gadolinium gallium garnet.
- 5. The composite garnet of claim 1, wherein said composite garnet is cut and polished after said steps of optical contacting and bonding.
- 6. The composite garnet of claim 1, further comprising a third garnet, wherein a surface of said third garnet is optically contacted to a surface of said bonded assembly, and wherein said optically contacted surface of said third garnet is bonded by gradually heating to a bonding temperature below the fusion temperature of said assembly and said third garnet, but at a temperature and for a time sufficient to diffusion bond said optically contacted surfaces of said assembly and said third garment.
- 7. A composite garnet, comprising:
- a first garnet; and
- a second garnet bonded to said first garnet using a non-adhesive bonding technique, wherein a bonded interface between said first garnet and said second garnet exhibits negligible optical scatter, and wherein said bonded interface exhibits sufficient strength to allow said composite garnet to be cut and polished after said first and second garnets are bonded.
- 8. The composite garnet of claim 7, wherein said first and second garnets are selected from the group consisting of naturally occurring garnets and artificially grown garnets.
- 9. The composite garnet of claim 7, further comprising a third garnet, wherein said third garnet is either bonded to said first garnet, to said second garnet, or to said first and second garnets using a non-adhesive bonding technique.
- 10. A method of fabricating a composite garnet, comprising the steps of:
- optically contacting a surface of a first garnet to a surface of a second garnet to form an optically contacted interface, wherein said optically contacted is indicated by a complete disappearance of interference fringes at said interface; and
- bonding said optically contacted interface by gradually heating said interface to a bonding temperature below the fusion temperature of said first and second garnets, but at a temperature and for a time sufficient to diffusion bond said optically contacted surfaces.
- 11. The method of fabricating a composite garnet of claim 10, wherein said first garnet has a first melting temperature and said second garnet has a second melting temperature, and wherein said bonding temperature is a temperature corresponding from about 0.4 to about 0.9 times the value of the lower of said first and second melting temperatures.
- 12. The method of fabricating a composite garnet of claim 10, wherein said first and second garnets are selected from the group consisting of naturally occurring garnets and artificially grown garnets.
- 13. The method of fabricating a composite garnet of claim 10, wherein said first and second garnets are selected from the group consisting of yttrium aluminum garnet, aluminum oxide derived gemstones, red Almadine garnets, and gadolinium gallium garnet.
- 14. The method of fabricating a composite garnet of claim 10, further comprising the steps of cutting and polishing said composite garnet, said cutting and polishing steps occurring after said optical contacting and bonding steps.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Continuation-in-Part of application No. 08/580,730, filed Dec. 29, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,638, which is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 08/330,174, filed Oct. 27, 1994, now abandoned, which is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 07/919,374, filed Jul. 29, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,803, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 07/672,251, filed Mar. 20, 1991, now abandoned, which is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 07/597,987, filed Oct. 15, 1990, now abandoned, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 07/446,214, filed Dec. 5, 1989, now abandoned, which is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 07/238,563, filed Aug. 30, 1988, now abandoned, the complete disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
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Divisions (2)
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919374 |
Jul 1992 |
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238563 |
Aug 1988 |
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Continuations (2)
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672251 |
Mar 1991 |
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446214 |
Dec 1989 |
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Continuation in Parts (3)
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580730 |
Dec 1995 |
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330174 |
Oct 1994 |
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597987 |
Oct 1990 |
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