Effect of Ga₂O₃-doping on Properties and Structure of ZBLAN Glass

Abstract

It is interesting to explore a novel oxyfluoride glass with good glass stability to be applied in optical communication and optical windows at infrared (IR) wavelength. We demonstrated a new glass of Ga₂O₃-doped ZrF₄−BaF₂−LaF₃−AlF₃−NaF (ZBLAN) glass using a melt-quenched technique. The effect of Ga₂O₃-doping on glass properties and structure was characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA), IR spectra, Raman spectra, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It is found that the glass thermal stability (ΔT) increases by 14% when the addition of Ga₂O₃ reaches 1mol%. With the increase of Ga₂O₃ content, the density and refractive index of the glasses increase. Ga₂O₃-doping does not affect the IR cut-off edge and maintains the transmittance near 90% in the range of 2.5–5 µm, which is almost equal to the undoped sample. Ga₂O₃-doping hardly changes the initial coordinated structure of Zr⁴⁺ according to the results of IR spectra and Raman spectra. Ga³⁺ holds in the interstice site of the network coordinated with F⁻ and the part of O²⁻ introduced by Ga₂O₃ is coordinated with Al³⁺ forming Al−O bond. This study offers a new glass composition that may be potentially used in fabricating mid-IR optical fiber and large-size glasses for IR windows.

Keywords

fluorozirconate glass / Ga₂O₃-doped / glass-thermal ability / oxyfluoride glasses

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