Development of a world-class expertise in infrared glass technologies

红外透射玻璃及其光纤具有广泛的应用前景。本项目的目标是推进以下研究方向，这些研究方向具有相当大的工业相关性和商业化潜力：1）通过开发合成高纯度玻璃的改进制造方法来减少红外玻璃的固有损耗，2）开发用于工业，生物医学和通信技术的红外玻璃纤维。项目的主要交付成果将是改进高纯度特种玻璃，特别是硫系玻璃的制造工艺并使其自动化，以逐步获得更纯、更透明的硫系玻璃纤维，并制定质量和市场接受度的国际标准。

Infrared transmitting glasses and their optical fibers encompass wide interest with numerous applications. The objective of this project is to advance the following research thrusts that find considerable industry relevance and high potential for commercialization: 1) reduction of the intrinsic losses in infrared glasses by developing improved fabrication methods for synthesizing high-purity glasses, and 2) development of infrared glass fibers for industrial, biomedical, and communications technologies. The main project deliverable will be to improve and automate the fabrication process for high-purity specialty glasses, especially chalcogenide glasses, in order to obtain progressively purer and more transparent chalcogenide glass fibers, and to set the international standard of quality and market acceptance.