Fluoride glasses

Key advances in the field of fluoride glasses include those developments that will lead to a better knowledge of these exotic glasses for the design of sophisticated optical objects, such as single mode waveguides in a planar, channel or fiber configuration. When doped with appropriate rare earth ions, this low phonon vitreous matrix enables the observation of phenomena such as optical up-conversion, laser oscillation and optical amplification. Practical devices have been developed for applications in the areas of telecommunications or as laser sources.