PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF TELLURITE GLASSES PREPARED UNDER DIFFERENT THERMAL HISTORIES

Abstract

Tellurite glasses were prepared with identical 20 Li 2 O -80 TeO 2 nominal compositions but with different thermal histories. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy techniques were used to understand the effects of the thermal histories on the thermal and structural properties of these glasses. It was observed that investigated properties depend strongly on the thermal histories. DSC results suggested that annealing immediately after quenching at temperatures around the glass transition temperature (Tg) and for longer times is favorable for producing local ordered regions in the glass without necessarily increasing the number of nuclei. XRD results revealed the crystallization of the γ- TeO 2, α- TeO 2 and α- Li 2 Te 2 O 5 phases in both studied glasses. Raman spectroscopy revealed the mestastable character of the γ- TeO 2 crystalline phase, while the α- TeO 2 and α- Li 2 Te 2 O 5 crystalline phases persisted up to the final stages of the in-situ crystallization.