Chalcogenide glass: Fabrication techniques, properties and applications

Chalcogenides are compound formed predominately from one or more of the chalcogen elements; Sulfur, Selenium, and Tellurium. Although they were studied some fifty years ago, interest in chalcogenide glasses has emerged significantly as glasses, crystals, and alloys find new life in the wide range of optoelectronic devices. Various non-oxide glasses have been prepared and characterized in last few decades, thus widening the groups of chalcogen materials used in various optoelectronic glasses. The present review describes the composition of chalcogenide glasses, their synthesis and fabrication, their physical properties and potential applications in optoelectronics. Subsequently, current research and future prospects of chalcogenide glasses have been sketched. A comprehensive review on chalcogenide glasses shall further help the researchers to expedite their research work in this area.