New glass ceramics for eye-friendly lasers

Print 26 June 2017
Marchmont Innovation News

Super-hard and durable glass ceramics with potentially market-winning nonlinear optical properties is being developed in St. Petersburg. It will be used in passive Q switches of human eye friendly lasers and is said to have no volatile and toxic components,  announced  Shvabe, a large Russian technology holding company. The developers are scientists at the S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute, which is part of Shvabe. 

Using the new patented synthesis method is expected to produce good enough glass ceramics for a range of heavy-duty applications in optical devices for environmental monitoring, rangefinding, and remote diagnostics of industrial and environmental objects. 

“The discovery will upgrade 1.5µm lasers, a spectral range safe enough for the human eye. Unlike the competition, the new St. Pete method enables production of glass ceramics with high homogeneity, nonlinear optical and luminescent properties, superb mechanical durability, and chemical resistance. Its production process is also 100% safe,” said Sergei Shchukin, the CEO of the S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute. 

The nontoxic glass ceramics, a product of eco-friendly synthesis, could be marketed as transparent, semi-transparent or nontransparent nanocrystalline material. Its properties are determined by inclusions of rare earths and transition metals.

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