Optical Properties Of Stretched Cuclbr-Containing Glasses

Glasses containing a post-thermally developed CuClBr microcrystalline phase were stretched under an applied stress at a temperature above the strain point. The resulting glass was optically transparent and birefringent. The stretched glass was heated under reducing conditions to effect the reduction of the Cu-halide particles to Cu metal thereby rendering the glass polarising. The polarising behaviour is compared to that of Ag/Ag-halide containing glasses which are made in the same manner. The polarising behaviour of the two glasses is very similar except for the wavelength region below 500nm.