Structure and Glass Transition Temperatures of Tellurite Glasses

Tellurite glasses, made from the conditional glass former TeO2, show potential for use in optical applications. Alkali and alkaline earth tellurite glasses, along with single component, rapidly cooled, TeO2 are reported and studied here. Thermal properties of boron, potassium, lithium, sodium, rubidium, cesium, barium, and strontium tellurites were obtained via differential scanning calorimetry and related to structural changes observed using Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, coordination numbers of barium and strontium tellurites versus amount of modifier are also calculated. By understanding the thermal properties and coordination numbers of alkali and alkaline earth tellurites, the goal is to better elucidate the structure of amorphous TeO2.