Preparation of REE-doped Ge-based chalcogenide glasses with low hydrogen impurity content

Abstract

The Ga5Ge36S59 and Ga5Ge36Se59 glass samples doped with 760–3800 ppm(at) ions of thulium, praseodymium and terbium are prepared. The addition of the rare-earth element (REE) in the conventional glass manufacturing process is shown to lead to a significant increase in the content of hydrogen impurity in chalcogenide glasses. A new technique for producing REE-doped glasses, including the preliminary melting of gallium with rare earth element in an evacuated silica-glass reactor at a temperature of 700 °C, is proposed. The advantage of the proposed technique is the effective removal of hydrogen impurity from REE due to the thermal decomposition of their hydrides and hydroxides. The total hydrogen content in the form of SH-, SeH-groups and GeH in the best glass samples was 0.2–0.4 ppm(at).