Effect of photo-thermo-induced nucleation on crystallization properties of SiO2–Al2O3–ZnO–Na2O photo-thermo-refractive glass

Optical waveguide in thermally developed photo-thermo-refractive glass substrate

“…Photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glasses, a novel category of functional materials that possess promising photosensitive characteristics, have been attracting the attention of more and more researchers worldwide in the past decades. Induced by UV exposure and subsequent thermally developed nano-sized NaF crystals dispersed in the glass matrix, a refractive index decrement of amplitude as high as 1000ppm can be expected [1][2][3] . Owing to their uniquely high amplitude of refractive index change, high thermal stability, and good optical transparency, PTR glasses have found extensive applications as a matrix material for the fabrication of various volume Bragg gratings that are extensively serving as wavelength-selective elements for the construction of high-performance lasers, spectroscopies, 3-D display instruments and AR devices [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] as well.…”