Durable Phosphate Glasses with Low Glass Transition Temperatures

Phosphate glasses have special applications, but tra,ditionally never have had both durability and a low glass transition temperature (making them hard to work with). A composition study was used to find a more durable, easily fabricated phosphate glass with a low glass transition temperature. Batching, melting, casting, annealing and fabrication of test parts were performed. Glasses were characterized for hardness, glass transition temperature and chemical durability. An interesting composition with small amounts of borate, tin and alumina was found to have improved durability with a low glass transition temperature. Future work could include further composition improvement and doping with rare earth ions to study their electro-optical effects in the glass.