Provided is a method for manufacturing an infrared-transmissive lens having an excellent surface quality. A method for manufacturing an infrared-transmissive lens includes firing a preform of a chalcogenide glass in an inert gas atmosphere to obtain a fired body and then subjecting the fired body to hot press molding.

A device for manufacturing SiO.sub.2TiO.sub.2 based glass by growing a glass ingot upon a target by a direct method. The device includes the target, comprising a thermal storage portion that accumulates heat by being preheated, and a heat insulating portion that suppresses conduction of heat from the thermal storage portion in a direction opposite to the glass ingot.

A device for manufacturing SiO.sub.2TiO.sub.2 based glass by growing a glass ingot upon a target by a direct method. The device includes the target, comprising a thermal storage portion that accumulates heat by being preheated, and a heat insulating portion that suppresses conduction of heat from the thermal storage portion in a direction opposite to the glass ingot.

A lens forming method is provided, including: heating a blank mold with a pre-molding cavity until a glass preform in the pre-molding cavity is in a semi-molten state; applying a pressure to the blank mold, so that the glass preform is extruded to form a lens rough blank with a predetermined shape; cooling the blank mold and the lens rough blank, and separating the blank mold by depressurization, to transfer the lens rough blank to a molding cavity of a high-precision aspherical mold; heating the high-precision aspherical mold until the lens rough blank is softened to a semi-molten state; applying a pressure to the high-precision aspherical mold, so that the lens rough blank is extruded to form a lens molded part with an aspherical structure; and cooling the high-precision aspherical mold and the lens molded part, and separating the high-precision aspherical mold by depressurization, to remove the lens molded part.

A method for continuous production of photo-sensitive glass bodies, glass bodies, and structured glass articles are provided. The glass bodies include a glass having Si.sup.4+, at least one crystal-agonist, at least one crystal-antagonist, and at least one pair of nucleating agents. The glass may be used in a method for structuring of glass. The glass bodies may be structured and/or unstructured and used in different applications such as in components or as components in micro-technology, in micro-reaction-technology, in electronic packaging, for micro-fluidic components, in or as FED spacer, for bio-technology (for example titer plates), as interposer, and in or as three-dimensional structurable antennae.

A method for continuous production of photo-sensitive glass bodies, glass bodies, and structured glass articles are provided. The glass bodies include a glass having Si.sup.4+, at least one crystal-agonist, at least one crystal-antagonist, and at least one pair of nucleating agents. The glass may be used in a method for structuring of glass. The glass bodies may be structured and/or unstructured and used in different applications such as in components or as components in micro-technology, in micro-reaction-technology, in electronic packaging, for micro-fluidic components, in or as FED spacer, for bio-technology (for example titer plates), as interposer, and in or as three-dimensional structurable antennae.

A method of controlling an optical element manufacturing apparatus includes: heating a cavity formed of a pair of upper and lower dies to a first temperature where an optical element material softens and becomes formable by the pair of dies; heating the cavity to a second temperature where the optical element material is deformed due to a weight of the optical element material in a state of not being in contact with the upper die, the second temperature being higher than the first temperature; and pressing the pair of dies for transfer of forming surfaces of the pair of dies onto the optical element material, the forming surfaces being outside a range where a forming surface of a die has been transferred by the deformation due to the weight in the state where the optical element material is not in contact with the upper die at the second temperature.

The invention relates to a method for forming a glass item, in particular a three-dimensionally formed flat glass item, wherein the following steps are carried out: arranging a flat formation of glass, for example a flat glass pane of homogeneous thickness or a flat glass pane of inhomogeneous thickness or a preformed flat glass pane blank or liquid two-dimensionally spread glass, between a mould plunger and a melt of liquid metal, in particular tin; tempering of at least one part to be formed of the flat formation of glass to a forming temperature of the glass at which the glass has a viscosity in the range from 10 Pas to 106.5 Pas, preferably in the range from 10 Pas to 104 Pas and particularly preferably in the range from 10 Pas to 103 Pas; forming the flat formation of glass by moving the mould plunger and a surface of the molten metal towards each other, preferably by means of at least one linear movement, for example by means of a linear motor or servomotor, so that the flat formation of glass is pressurised either by the mould plunger on the one hand and by the molten metal on the other hand and is formed by the pressurisation on both sides and/or by suctioning and conforming the flat formation of glass onto the mould plunger; cooling the formed flat formation of glass to a handling temperature below the forming temperature at which the glass has a viscosity of ?107 Pas; and demoulding the cooled flat formation; as well as a device for carrying out the method and a use of a molten metal for carrying out the method.

A glass housing includes an inner surface comprising a first flat portion and a first curved portion extending inward from a periphery of the first flat portion; an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, the outer surface comprising a second flat portion and a second curved portion extending inward from a periphery of the second flat portion; and a circumferential surface interconnecting the outer surface and the inner surface; wherein a distance between the inner surface and the outer surface ranges from 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm, the first and the second curved portions are arcuate surfaces having radii of curvature ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm.

A device for manufacturing SiO.sub.2TiO.sub.2 based glass by growing a glass ingot upon a target by a direct method. The device includes the target, comprising a thermal storage portion that accumulates heat by being preheated, and a heat insulating portion that suppresses conduction of heat from the thermal storage portion in a direction opposite to the glass ingot.