Synthesis conditions of zblan glass for mid-infrared optical components

Abstract

We report on successful synthesis of ZBLAN glass. Different purity of zirconium tetrafluoride used for synthesis and fluorinating agents was analyzed to obtain high optical quality glass. Among fluorinating agents we used ammonium bifluoride, xenon difluoride and sulfur hexafluoride. The best results in the form of synthetized glasses have a transmission window extending from 0.2 to 8.0μm, which allows to fabricate fibers for mid-infrared applications.