A study of glasses consisting mainly of the oxides of elements of high atomic weight. Part I

JSGT 1957 V41 T003-T027

The glass-forming capabilities of oxides of various elements of high atomic number have been investigated. A number of oxides have been found to be capable of forming stable glasses, either alone or in combination with other oxides, while several others, though not capable of forming stable glasses alone, will act as 'glass-formers' when in combination with proportions of other oxides in excess of certain minimum amounts. The study of these various glasses has enabled certain criteria to be put forward relating to the possibility of glass formation when different pairs of oxides are melted together. The infra-red transmission curves of the glasses obtained have been determined over the range 1 μ to 15 μ. All the 'oxide' glasses show strong or very strong absorption bands in the 3 μ and 6 μ region, due to water retained in the glasses. Absorption bands due to the main oxide constituents of the various glasses have been identified. These occur mainly in the region approaching or beyond 6 μ, and the overlapping of these bands with the water bands causes the transmission beyond 6 μ to be so low as to amount to a virtual 'cut-off' either at 3 μ or at 6 μ if the thickness of the glass exceeds about 2 mm. A study of the positions and displacements of the absorption bands due to the different oxides indicates a method of distinguishing between 'network forming' and 'network modifying' oxides.

H. M. Heaton & H. Moore