ADVANCED GLASSES: Replacing Expensive Crystals in Lasers.

High Tech Ceramics News, October, 2003

Researchers have developed a new family of glasses that will bring higher power to smaller packages in lasers and optical devices and provide a less-expensive alternative to many other optical glasses and crystals, like sapphire. Called REAlGlass (Rare-earth - Aluminum oxide), the materials are durable, provide a good host for atoms that improve laser performance, and may extend the range of wavelengths that a single laser can currently produce.

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Containerless Research, Inc. (CRI), based in the Northwestern University Evanston Research Park in Illinois, recently developed the REAlGlass manufacturing process. NSF is now supporting the company to develop the glasses for applications in power lasers, surgical...