A solution-based approach to the fabrication of novel chalcogenide glass materials and structures

Chalcogenide glasses (ChGs) are well known for their large optical nonlinearities and high infrared transparency, and are candidate materials for next-generation thin filmbased planar infrared (IR) optical applications. They are also known, however, to possess low thermal and mechanical stability as compared to oxide glasses. Traditional physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods used for the deposition of these materials as thin films often suffer from low deposition rates, deviation from stoichiometry, and cannot coat over complex surfaces. In order to retain the attractive optical properties of ChGs while enabling new fabrication routes and hybrid and composite material systems, we have developed a novel technique for the deposition of ChG-based materials through dissolution of bulk glasses in organic solvents. Utilization of the solution phase allows for new deposition routes such and spin-coating and direct fabrication of ChG optical structures in a single step using micro-stamping techniques. Solution-derived thin films in the As-Ge-Sb-S system are shown to possess similar molecular structure to the parent bulk glass, and vacuum heat treatment allows the preservation of IR transparency through the removal of residual organics. Additionally it is shown that glass-polymer hybrid materials may be created through the incorporation of compatible polymers in the co-solution phase. It was shown that it is possible to tune the optical and mechanical properties of these coatings by tailoring the glass chemistry/polymer content over a broad range, important for applications in IR optical coatings and as interfacial materials where thermal and mechanical property matching is critical. This technique was shown to be a promising route towards the preparation of novel IR optical materials and structures.