This dissertation focuses on the properties and structures of ternary zinc phosphate glasses that have recently been investigated as substrates for femto-second (fs) laser writing. Although these glasses have potential for use as optical substrates, their poor chemical properties limit their applications. In this work, ternary zinc phosphate glasses were studied to find compositions with enhanced chemical durability and the properties and structures of the investigated glasses are reported.
Paper 1 and Paper 2 include the first systematic studies of the properties, structures of zinc aluminophosphate (ZAP) glasses and phase relationships in the ZnO-Al₂O₃-P₂O₅ system, respectively. Adding alumina to a Zn-metaphosphate glass reduces dissolution rates in water by 4 orders of magnitude and increases the glass transition temperatures. The average Al coordination number can be predicted from a structural model that considers the number of non-bridging oxygens to coordinate metal cations, and this work is the first reported use of this model for a ternary phosphate glass.
Paper 3 is the first systematic study of how the properties and structures of zinc magnesium polyphosphate glasses change when MgO replaces ZnO for compositions with fixed O/P ratios. The Mg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ ions have similar field strengths, but have much different effects on glass properties that are discussed in terms of relative polarizabilities (refractivities) and electron configurations of the Mg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ ions.
In Paper 4, the creation of electronic defects in zinc phosphate glasses by exposure to ultraviolet and x-ray radiation is described. The nature of the defects formed is dependent on the glass composition and similar defects are created when these glasses are exposed to femto-second laser radiation. --Abstract, page iv
