Vitreous Materials and their Optical Properties

Teacher : Frederic Smektala

This course adresses vitreous materials and their optical properties. The lessons are organized in two parts. In the first one, the different techniques of non crystalline solids elaboration are described, the glass transition phenomenon is explained, as well as glasses structure, conditions of glass formation and cristallisation of glasses. The viscosity of glasses is discussed and the different glasses families are presented. In the second part, the optical properties of glasses are treated: transmission, band gap and multiphonon edges, absorption, diffusion, reflexion, dispersion, linear refractive index. The optical properties of the different glasses families are discussed, as well as coloured glasses, luminescent and lasers glasses, glasses for high energy lasers, and nonlinear optical glasses. Finally, optical fibres are presented: fabrication, propagation, transmission, doped fibres for amplification and lasers, photonic crystal fibres and microstructured fibres.