Dielectric properties of oxyfluorosilicate (OFS) glasses have been characterized using Terahertz (THz)-time domain spectroscopy in the sub-THz region as well as optical reflection measurement. OFS glass containing 20 mol% of Nb2O5, which is termed ZNbKLSNd glass, has the highest refractive index of 3.70 in the sub-THz region. The THz and optical refractive indices of various silicate oxide glasses, including OFS glasses, have been confirmed to be correlated by a unified relationship utilizing a parameter defined by the ratio of ionic to electronic polarizability. Additionally, the frequency dependence of the THz dielectric constant has been interpreted by a single oscillator model for all silicate oxide glasses including OFS glasses. On the basis of the present unified dielectric model, the very high refractive index of ZNbKLSNd glass has been attributed to the lowering of oscillator resonance wavelength originated from the incorporation of Nb2O5 intermediate network former.

Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy was used to study the optical properties of two series of oxyfluorosilicate (OFS) glasses. The experimentally measured refractive indices are analyzed by using the Clausius–Mossotti equation to retrieve information about polarizability of the glass. Compared with previously studied oxide-based glasses and chalcogenides, OFS glasses exhibit a balance of relatively low absorption coefficients (6–9 cm−1) and high refractive indices (2.9–3.7) at 0.5 THz. The value of 3.7 is the highest among silicate glasses reported to date and are comparable to those of La3+:chalcogenide glasses. The relatively high values of refractive indices have been attributed to the great increase of the glass polarizability in OFS glasses, which offsets the effect of an increase in molecular volume caused by multicomponent modification of the glass structure. Comparatively low THz absorption of OFS glasses is explained by the structural relaxation effect of fluorine, which effectively suppress the charge fluctuation in the glass structure. The high refractive index and low absorption loss properties of the present OFS glasses should be useful for quasi-optic components such as lens and waveguide devices application in the sub-THz and millimeter wave region.

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