Controllable far-infrared-transmitting glass ceramics based on chalcogenide and halide

New infrared transmitting glass ceramics based on the Ge-Sb-S-CsCl system have been studied. By selecting an appropriate glass composition, glass ceramics with different quantities of micro-crystals can be reproducibly obtained with different annealing temperatures and durations. The presence of crystals induces some additional losses in the short wavelength region, namely between 0.6 and 2 μm. However, the glass ceramics keep the same transmission as the original glass after 3 μm up to 11 μm. To our best knowledge, it is the first time that highly reproducible glass-ceramics based on chalcogenide glasses are obtained. Compared to the glass, the corresponding glass-ceramics show better resistance to fracture propagation. The feasibility of shaping the glass-ceramics by molding has also been demonstrated.