Most elements can be used as constituents of inorganic glasses. Oxides of the elements are most widely used because of their stability, economic availability, and important contributions to physical properties of the glasses. Silicate glasses contain substantial amounts of Si02 in combination with other oxides such as B203, PbO, Al203, CaO, and so on. These have received the most extensive use in products. A review of the nature of silicate glasses and their property behavior serves well as an introduction to all types of oxide glasses. These glasses are products of fusion. They can be cooled to room temperature without crystallizing and are characterized as supercooled materials. Their properties, therefore, are determined by time-temperature conditions during their formation as well as chemical composition and temperature at the time properties are measured. Glasses are essentially solids at room temperature with high elastic constants and useful dielectric constants. As temperature is increased they take on more and more the behavior of viscous liquids; their dielectric constants increase and they become electrolytic conductors. These characteristics of glasses are reviewed in terms of selected electromagnetic, mechanical, and thermal property data.

Date Published: 27 February 1980
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 0204, Physical Properties of Optical Materials, (27 February 1980); doi: 10.1117/12.958143

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0204:
Physical Properties of Optical Materials
Roy F. Potter, Editor(s)