FABRICATION OF TRANSPARENT TELLURITE GLASSES CONTAINING POTASSIUM NIOBATE CRYSTALS BY AN INCORPORATION METHOD

To fabricate transparent oxide glasses containing ferroelectric KNBO3 crystals, a new method in which KNbO3 particles are directly incorporated into TeO2-K2O-Nb2O5 glasses has been developed. Transparent TeO2-based glasses containing KNbO3 crystals with a diameter of approximately 10 mum have been first successfully fabricated by adjusting temperature and time for incorporation. A small difference in the refractive indexes, n, between TeO2-based matrix glasses (n = 2.0) and incorporated KNbO3 crystals (n = 2.21) is a significant reason for the transparency. This new method is applicable for the fabrication of new transparent glasses containing other functional materials with high refractive indexes.