Glass formation and properties of Ge-Te-BiI3 far infrared transmitting chalcohalide glasses.

A novel series of Ge-Te-BiI(3) chalcogenide glasses were prepared by traditional melt-quenching method and the glass-forming region was determined. Properties measurements including density, Vis-NIR and infrared (IR) transmission spectra with FTIR, XRD, DSC were adopted to analyze the composition, structure and performance of the Ge-Te-BiI3 glass system. Based on the metallization criterion and band gap energy theory, the relationships between energy gap, metallization criterion and glass composition was investigated. The results show that with the addition of BiI3, the glasses-forming ability and thermal stability are improved. The values of energy band gap and metallization criterion are within the range of 0.627-0.343 eV and 0.177-0.131, respectively. These series of glasses have wide optical transmission window from 2.2 to 25 μm and can offer an alternative solution for far infrared transmitting applications.