Glass formation and optical properties of Ge–Te–Ga–CuI far-IR transmitting chalcogenide glasses

To discover the signs of life on terrestrial planets, we must accurately detect the existence of CO2, which has two vibrational absorption bands at 4 μm and 16 μm. Therefore optical materials be able to transmit light far beyond 20 μm are essential for manufacturing these detectors. In this paper, a series of Ge–Te–Ga–CuI far-IR transmitting chalcogenide glasses were synthesized by conventional melt-quenching method and their glass-forming region was determined. Properties measurements including X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Vis–NIR and IR transmitting spectra were performed on glasses. The results of XRD measurements confirmed the amorphous state of studied glasses. With the help of Ga and CuI, these glasses have high glass transition temperature Tg (>175 °C), indicating their good thermal stability. The allowed indirect transition of samples was also calculated according to the Tauc equation. The infrared transmission spectra measured by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) show that these glasses all have wide optical transmitting window from 1.68 to 25 μm revealing that it may have great potential for application in far-IR material fields.