Third party funded individual grant
Start date : 01.02.2024
The project aims to design, produce,
and characterize a novel class of glasses and glass-ceramics (GCs) based
on niobium with optical/electrical properties that make them suitable
for functionalization. Niobium is a versatile element that, in glasses,
provides a high refractive index, large non-linear optical
susceptibilities, and intense UV absorption while preserving high
transparency in the visible region. In the crystallized form, it can
stabilize phases having unique properties, such as electro-optical and
electro-mechanical coupling, photorefractive, and non-linear optical
properties (e.g., LiNbO3, NaNbO3, KNbO3). Furthermore, the
(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 composition is considered crucial in developing
environmentally friendly ferroelectrics. Combining the high-temperature
stability and optical applications of a pore-free and
chemically/mechanically stable aluminosilicate glass matrix with the
functional properties of Nb-based crystals dispersed in it would allow
an important step forward for developing multi-functional materials
(glass-ceramics). These novel glass-ceramics would allow many
applications in optics and advanced energy-related technologies, such as
second harmonic generation, down- and up-conversion, pyroelectricity,
piezoelectricity, high energy-storage dielectric …