Glass formation and crystallization kinetics in a multicomponent fluoride glass

Composition adjustments have been implemented in a multicomponent glass based on the fluorides of In, Ga, Y, Zn, Sr, Ba and Na. Alkali fluorides LiF, KF and CsF have been substituted for sodium fluoride. Some physical properties of the resulting glasses have been measured. More stable glasses were obtained with lithium fluoride. The crystallization kinetics of the 30InF3–10YF3–25BaF2–5SrF2–10ZnF2–10GaF3–6NaF–4LiF glass have been studied by isothermal and non-isothermal methods using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The value of the Avrami exponent n is larger than 4, corresponding to an increasing nucleation rate. The apparent activation energy for crystallization, E, varies from 190 to 210 kJ/mol.