Sol-gel optics

Abstract

In the past decade, sol-gel processing has been actively employed for the preparation of new ceramics and for the fabrication of ceramics into many complex geometries. Sol-gel processing is particularly suitable for optical materials. The application of sol-gel technology to the synthesis and fabrication of optical materials is termed 'Sol-gel optics.' A review is presented on the basic principles of the sol-gel process and examples are given for some important materials in sol-gel optics. These include many configurations of silica glass, organic-impregnated glasses, origanically modified ceramics (ORMOCERS), ferroelectric thin films, amorphous ferroelectrics, nonlinear optical nanocomposites and gradient index lenses. Some future developments in sol-gel optics are discussed.