Chalcogenide Glasses for Infrared Optics

Cutting-edge techniques for yielding high-quality chalcogenide glasses
This pioneering work describes the technology, developed over a 50-year period, to utilize chalcogenide glasses as infrared optical materials. Methods for qualitatively identifying chalcogenide glass compositions and producing high-purity homogeneous glass are discussed.
Chalcogenide Glasses for Infrared Optics includes unique production techniques developed through the author's work at both Texas Instruments (TI) and Amorphous Materials, Inc. (AMI). The production of vacuum float zoned silicon, gallium arsenide, and cadmium telluride, all useful in infrared technology, is explained. The book highlights examples of how glass composition can be changed to enhance a particular property.
Coverage includes:
Transmission of light by solids
Physical properties of chalcogenide glasses
Glass production
Careful characterization of glass properties
Conventional lens fabrication--spherical surfaces
Molding of unconventional aspheric lenses with diffractive surfaces
Glass processes for other applications
IR imaging bundles made from chalcogenide glass fibers
Production of infrared crystalline materials at AMI
Development of an automatic ellipsometer system at TI