Fluoroindate glasses

The compositions, properties and concepts of structure of fluoroindate glas ses are considered. These glasses are characterised by very low phonon spec trum and, hence, very low theoretical optical losses in the IK range. Accor ding to vibrational spectroscopy, the degree of polymerisation of the octah edra in fluoroindate glasses is lower than those in fluorogallate or fluoro aluminate glasses. The compositions of fluoroindate glasses, which contain up to 9 components, cannot be regarded as optimised. Comparative analysis o f the chemical and thermal stability of fluoroindate and fluorozirconate gl asses is performed. It is shown that the high susceptibility of InF3 for hy drolysis accounts for the instability of glasses and optical losses. The pr ospects for the use of fluoroindate glasses in lasers, fibre optics and sci ntillators are discussed.