Night vision photo taken form a camera with chalcogenide glass optics. Bureau et. al., (2004)

1. Enhancing functionality via stability: New chalcogenide glass offers reliability to infrared technologyPI’s: H. Jain, Lehigh University and C. Pantano, Penn State (DMR-0409588) Emerging functionalities as well as recent applications of chalcogenide glasses (such as in night vision cameras in top models of automobiles shown on the right) are limited by their insufficient stability over time. Physical ageing causes non-uniform shrinkage/expansion. Also their optical properties change upon exposure to light, heat, etc., making the glass unsuitable for precision applications. The teams IMI-NFG’s multinational collaborators have found a solution: Neutralize the photo-darkening (or photo-expansion) of As-Se glasses with the photo-bleaching (or photo-contraction) of Ge-Se glasses to obtain a photo-stable ternary As-Ge-Se glass composition. Night vision photo taken form a camera with chalcogenide glass optics. Bureau et. al., (2004) Compositional dependence of the change in optical absorption, Da, ofGexAs45-xSe55films upon exposure to bandgap light. Note that the composition with x = 10 is not affected by exposure to light.

2. Cooperative Glass Course: A solution to the problem of highly specialized, advanced education PI’s: H. Jain, Lehigh University and C. Pantano, Penn State (DMR-0409588) A generic problem: Most US universities require a minimum enrollment to offer a course. Usually there are not enough students at a single university to take an advanced class, especially in small fields like glass, even if a professor desires to teach it. • Solution: IMI-NFG offered a solution by organizing the first ever cooperative course: • Team taught by a faculty from 6 universities • Attended by over 50 students from 7 schools • Live lectures with student participation via Internet. • Joint projects with colleagues from other schools. • Additional advantages: • A deeper learning of the subject by combining the expertise of individual instructors. • Exposure to diverse strengths and backgrounds of professors. • Collegiality among students, which helped form a nationwide professional network. • Archived lectures, permanently available as a course or as a refresher. • Next Step: An international cooperative course. • More than 75% students said, “the course was made stronger by having multiple instructors who taught the topics of their expertise”. • All students indicated they would consider taking such a course again.