Chalcogenide
glasses as nanoscale thin films have become leading
candidates for several optical and photonic technologies, ranging
from reflective displays and filters to photonic memories. Current
material systems, however, show strong optical absorption which limits
their performance efficiencies and complicates device level integration.
Herein, we report sputter deposited thin films of GeSe3, which are low loss and in which the flexible nature of the atomic
structure results in thermally activated tunability in the refractive
index as well as in the film’s physical volume. Such changes,
which occur beyond a threshold temperature are observed to be accumulative
and directed toward a more equilibrium amorphous state of the film,
instead of crystallization. Our results provide insight into a new
type of configurability that is based on strong coupling in the material’s
opto-structural properties. The low optical losses in this material
system combined with the tunability in the optical properties in the
visible and near-infrared have direct application in higher performing
optical coatings and in corrective optics.