Submission Date

4-23-2018

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Physics & Astronomy

Adviser

Casey Schwarz

Committee Member

Lew Riley

Committee Member

Tom Carroll

Committee Member

Lisa Grossbauer

Department Chair

Lew Riley

External Reviewer

Kathleen Richardson

Distinguished Honors

This paper has met the requirements for Distinguished Honors

Project Description

Chalcogenide glasses have gained attention in recent years for their ability to transmit light throughout most of the infrared spectrum and for their ability to alter their structural conformation from amorphous to crystalline as a result of heat exposure. Because the physical properties of the glass change with structural differences, these glasses are used in a variety of optical devices and lenses. Additionally, because they change conformation as a result of heat exposure, these glasses are particularly useful for read-write applications such as re-writable compact disks and computational random access memory cards. The cost and weight of these glasses however prevent them from being used in more applications. Here, we developed a novel approach for the application of thin-films of chalcogenide glass on flat and curved lens substrates using dip-coating procedures in solutions of chalcogenide glass dissolved in Ethylenediamine and Ethanethiol. In order to produce optical quality films, the homogeneous evaporation of solution components must be maintained to prevent precipitation of glass. Using FTIR analysis, we determined that Ethanethiol preferentially evaporates from mixtures, mostly within the first hour of dipping. However, we identified a solution that allows for the maintained dissolution of glass. Through this process, we developed refined dipping procedures to ensure a constant glass-solution homogeneity throughout the film-application procedure.

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