Local Structure and the Photoelastic Response in Zinc-modified Oxide Glass

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between the structure of materials and their properties allows for the development of new applications and technologies. Here the relationship between local structure and optical properties in several binary oxide glass systems containing zinc oxide was examined, in particular the relationship between structure, applied stress and induced birefringence in a glass. The empirical model introduced by Zwanziger and co-workers posits a negative correlation between the ratio of the bond length to coordination number in a glass and the induced birefringence; zinc oxide in this model is predicted to be exactly at the threshold between positive and negative birefringence and is thus of particular interest to investigate. XAFS and Raman spectroscopy were used to determine local structure while the Sénarmont compensator method, Abbe refractometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry were used to measure optical properties.