Glass, optical applications

A second set of examples deals with the analysis of near-surface regions of glasses which normally have so-called altered or leached layers. The altered layer is found for soda-lime glasses and for many glasses used for optical applications. The chan-... 

Silicon is the most important constituent of igneous and many sedimentary rocks, occurring in combination with oxygen in feldspars, micas, quartz, sands and shales. The element is used in electronic devices, while silicon in combination with oxygen as silica and silicates finds application in concrete, bricks, pottery, enamels, glasses, optical fibers for telecommunications, and refractory (high-temperature resistant) materials. 

In principle these compounds offer access to materials with AliCh-SiCL and Al203 2Si02 stoichiometries. The latter stoichiometry is equivalent to the Al[OSi(OBu-t)3 (OBu-t)] precursor. The major drawbacks with these materials are their air and moisture sensitivity, and the cost of the starting materials. Although the idealized stoichiometries of the above ceramics products are not those of crystalline aluminosilicates, amorphous aluminosilicate glasses are often important in optical applications or in scratch-resistant coatings. Furthermore, they may offer potential for CVD-type applications. There still remains considerable need for simple precursors to crystalline aluminosilicates, especially for structural applications. Dense, phase pure crystalline ceramic materials are desired for optimal mechanical properties, e.g. ceramic fibers for composite manufacture. 

In optical applications, in addition to optical liber claddings, special optical adhesives matching refractive indexes of optical glass components based on fluorinated epoxyacrylates and epoxymethacrylates are used.29 Fluoroalkyl methacrylates are frequently incorporated as comonomers with siloxanyl methacrylates into contact lenses for the improvement of oxygen permeability.31... 

Ethylene-norbornene copolymers, which have thermoplastic properties when heated above their glass transition temperatures of ca. 200-250°C, have been commercialized by Ticona GmbH under the trade name TOPAS (Tliermoplas-tic Olefin Polymer of Amorphous Structure). Their properties - exceptional transparency, low double refraction, high stiffnes and hardness, low permeability for moisture and excellent biocompatibility - make these ethylene-norbornene copolymers particularly valuable as engineering polymers, for optical applications and as materials for food and medical packaging. 

J. Pick, Crystalline Nanoparticles in Glasses for Optical Applications, in Handbook of Surfaces and Interfaces of Materials , ed. H. S. Nalwa, Academic Press, San Diego, 2001, p. 311. 

Optical applications have been found for glasses based on Se and Te (e. g. As — Se), which show good transmittance in the 1 — 15 pm wavelength range. The assortment of suitable glasses is considerably wider for the 3 — 5 pm range. Glasses of the systems As-Se, As—S and As—Se (S) —Te form at temperatures around 200 C, other... 

Glass, rubber, and many plastics are amorphous solids. Recent studies have shown that glass may have some structure. When X-ray diffraction is used to study glass, there appears to be no pattern to the distribution of atoms. When neutrons are used instead, an orderly pattern of silicate units can be detected in some regions. Researchers hope to use this new information to control the structure of glass for optical applications and to produce glass that can conduct electricity. 

A number of oxides have been developed for optical applications in which glass, because of refractoriness, chemical compatibility, or limitations on bandwidth, typically cannot compete. These oxides are A1203, MgAl204, ALON, and Y203. Although other oxides have been sintered or hot pressed to transparency, these four are considered to be the prime candidates to extend optical applications. 

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