PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HEAVY-METAL OXIDE GLASSES - BI2O3-PBO-B2O3-GEO2 SYSTEM

High-refractive-index glasses of heavy-metal oxides have large optical non-linearities which make them promising for optoelectronic applicat ions. This paper describes the fabrication and characterization of the xBi2O3-PbO-B2O3-(52-x)GeO2 (BPBG) glass system with x = 10, 15, 20, 3 0 and 35. The BPBG glasses were melted in a high-purity alumina crucib le placed in a Super Khantal resistance furnace at 1000-degrees-C for 30 min and then poured onto a steel plate. The characterization was do ne by X-ray diffraction (XRD), density, dilatometry, light absorption (UV-VIS-IR) and linear refractive-index measurements. The infrared spe ctra show the presence of BiO6 and GeO6 in the glass structure suggest ing a network former role for the bismuth oxide. These measurements al lowed us to estimate the non-linear refractive index n2, using Line's formula, to be as high as 1.5 x 10(-18) m2 W-1.