Engineering of TeO2-ZnO-BaO-Based Glasses for Mid-Infrared Transmitting Optics.

Kadathala Linganna,Ju Hyeon Choi,Seon Hoon Kim,Jung-Hwan In,Karam Han

doi:10.3390/ma13245829

Abstract

In this paper, the glass systems, TeO2–ZnO–BaO (TZB), TeO2–ZnO–BaO–Nb2O5 (TZB–Nb) and TeO2–ZnO–BaO–MoO3 (TZB–Mo), were fabricated by the traditional melt-quench protocol for use as mid-infrared (mid-IR) transmitting optical material. The effect of Nb2O5 and MoO3 on the key glass material properties was studied through various techniques. From the Raman analysis, it was found that the structural modification was clear with the addition of both Nb2O5 and MoO3 in the TZB system. The transmittance of studied glasses was measured and found that the optical window covered a region from 0.4 to 6 μm. The larger linear refractive index was obtained for the Nb2O5-doped TZB glass system than that of other studied systems. High glass transition temperature, low thermo-mechanical coefficient and high Knoop hardness were noticed in the Nb2O5-doped TZB glass system due to the increase in cross-linking density and rigidity in the tellurite network. The results suggest that the Nb2O5-doped TZB optical glasses could be a promising material for mid-infrared transmitting optics.

Highlights

In recent years, interest on infrared optical systems has been increased because of their extensive usage in optical fields
Tellurium oxide (TeO2 )-based glasses are emerging as enabling materials for mid-infrared (IR) optics due to their wide array of functional properties, such as wide transmission ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to mid-IR
All three series TZB glasses modified with different additives of BaO, Nb2 O5 and MoO3 at different concentrations were prepared by the melt-quenching technique and their structural, physical and optical properties were studied systematically for mid-infrared transmitted optical glass material

Summary

Introduction

Interest on infrared optical systems has been increased because of their extensive usage in optical fields. The evolution of optical systems using crystalline materials possesses drawbacks like being time-consuming, expensive and very difficult for mass production. In this regard, the amorphous chalcogenide glass systems have been investigated rigorously for the development of infrared optical systems [8,9]. The amorphous chalcogenide glass systems have been investigated rigorously for the development of infrared optical systems [8,9] These glasses have drawbacks like low level of transmission, poor thermal stability and prone to crystallization, leading to investigate the alternative mid-infrared transmitting optical glasses. Tellurium oxide (TeO2 )-based glasses are emerging as enabling materials for mid-infrared (IR) optics due to their wide array of functional properties, such as wide transmission ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to mid-IR (0.4 to 6 μm), low melting temperatures (~800 ◦ C), good thermal stability (≥100 ◦ C), larger index of refraction (≥2.0), low maximum phonon energies (~750 cm−1 ) and larger Raman gain coefficient [10,11,12,13]

Methods

Results

Conclusion