An Introduction to Chalcogenide Glasses

Chalcogenide glasses are based on the chalcogen elements S, Se, and Te. These glasses are formed by the addition of other elements such as Ge, As, Sb, Ga, etc. They are low-phonon-energy materials and are generally transparent from the visible up to the infrared. Chalcogenide glasses can be doped by rareearth elements, such as Er, Nd, Pr, etc., and hence numerous applications of active optical devices have been proposed. Since chalcogenide-glass fibers transmit in the IR, there are numerous potential applications in the civil, medical, and military areas. Passive applications utilize chalcogenide fibers as a light conduit from one location to another point without changing the optical properties, other than those due to scattering, absorption, and refection.