Inorganic Glasses for Photonics

Fundamentals, Engineering, and Applications

Animesh Jha, Peter Capper, Safa O. Kasap, Arthur Willoughby, Peter Capper, Safa Kasap, Arthur Willoughby, Safa O. Kasap

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780470741702
• eBook ISBN: 9781118696095
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Optics & Light

Advanced textbook on inorganic glasses suitable for both undergraduates and researchers.

• Engaging style to facilitate understanding
• Suitable for senior undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers entering material science, engineering, physics, chemistry, optics and photonics fields
• Discusses new techniques in optics and photonics including updates on diagnostic techniques
• Comprehensive and logically structured

1
Introduction

1.1 Definition of Glassy States

A “glassy or vitreous” state is classified as a state of condensed matter in which there is a clear absence of a three-dimensional periodic structure. The periodicity is defined by the repetition of point groups (e.g. atoms or ions) occupying sites in the structure, following a crystallographic symmetry, namely, the mirror, inversion and rotation. A glass is a condensed matter exhibiting elasticity below a phase transition temperature, known as the glass transition temperature, which is designated in this text as (T_g). By comparison, an “amorphous” state, as in the “vitreous” state, has an all-pervasive lack of three-dimensional periodicity; it is more comparable with a liquid rather than a solid. An amorphous structure lacks elasticity and has a propensity to flow under its own weight more readily than a solid-like vitreous state does below T_g. An amorphous inorganic film also has a glass transition temperature and elastic behaviour, which varies with that of the corresponding vitreous state of the same material. The recognition of apparent differences in the properties of “vitreous” and “amorphous” structures, will be discussed in subsequent chapters on fabrication and processing and such comparative characterizations are essential in developing a deeper understanding of a structure–optical and spectroscopic properties of transparent “inorganic glasses as photonic materials” for guiding photons and their interactions with the medium. Such differences in structural and thermal properties between a glassy or amorphous and a crystalline state explain why the disordered materials demonstrate unique physical, thermo-mechanical, optical and spectroscopic properties, facilitating light confinement and propagation for long-haul distances better than any other condensed matter.

1.2 The Glassy State and Glass Transition Temperature (T_g)

The liquid-to-solid phase transition at the melting point (T_f) of a solid, for example, is characterized as a thermodynamically reversible or an equilibrium transition point, at which both the liquid and solid phases co-exist. Since at the melting point both phases are in equilibrium, the resulting Gibbs energy change (ΔG^f), as shown in Equation 1.1, of the phase transition is zero, which then helps in defining the net entropy chang...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Wiley Series in Materials for Electronic and Optoelectronic Applications
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Series Preface
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Glass Structure, Properties and Characterization
• Chapter 3: Bulk Glass Fabrication and Properties
• Chapter 4: Optical Fibre Design, Engineering, Fabrication and Characterization
• Chapter 5: Thin-film Fabrication and Characterization
• Chapter 6: Spectroscopic Properties of Lanthanide (Ln3+) and Transition Metal (M3+)-Ion Doped Glasses
• Chapter 7: Applications of Inorganic Photonic Glasses
• Supplementary References
• Symbols and Notations Used
• Index
• End User License Agreement