Glass fibers formed from the inventive composition may be used in applications that require high stiffness and have a specific modulus between 34 and 40 MJ/kg. Such applications include woven fabrics for use in forming wind turbine blades and aerospace structures

A glass composition is provided that includes SiO.sub.2 in an amount from 50.0 to 65.0% by weight; Al.sub.2O.sub.3 in an amount from 18.0 to 23.0% by weight; CaO in an amount from 1 to 8.5% by weight; MgO in an amount from 9.0 to 14.0% by weight; Na.sub.2O in an amount from 0.0 to 1.0% by weight; K.sub.2O in an amount from 0.0 to 1.0% by weight; Li.sub.2O in an amount from 0.1 to 4.0% by weight; TiO.sub.2 in an amount from 0.0 to 2.5% by weight, Y.sub.2O.sub.3 in an amount from 0 to 10.0% by weight; La.sub.2O.sub.3 in an amount from 0 to 10.0% by weight; Ce.sub.2O.sub.3 in an amount from 0 to 5.0% by weight; and Sc.sub.2O.sub.3 in an amount from 0 to 5.0% by weight. Glass fibers formed from the inventive composition may be used in applications that require high stiffness and have elastic modulus between 88 and 115 GPa. Such applications include woven fabrics for use in forming wind turbine blades and aerospace structures.

New glass compositions and applications thereof are disclosed. A glass composition as described herein can include 50 to 55 weight percent SiO.sub.2, 17 to 26 weight percent B.sub.2O.sub.3, 13 to 19 weight percent Al.sub.2O.sub.3, 0 to 8.5 weight percent MgO, 0 to 7.5 weight percent ZnO, 0 to 6 weight percent CaO, 0 to 1.5 weight percent Li.sub.2O, 0 to 1.5 weight percent F.sub.2, 0 to 1 weight percent Na.sub.2O, 0 to 1 weight percent Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, 0 to 1 weight percent TiO.sub.2, and 0 to 8 weight percent of other constituents. Also described herein are glass fibers formed from such compositions, composites, and articles of manufacture comprising the glass compositions and/or glass fibers.

Provided is a composition for a glass fiber which has a high elastic modulus and satisfactory productivity, and can facilitate the production of a fine-count glass fiber. The composition for a glass fiber of the present invention includes, as a glass composition expressed as a mass percent in terms of oxide, 50% to 70% of SiO.sub.2, 15% to 25% of Al.sub.2O.sub.3, 3% to 13% of MgO, 3% to 15% of CaO, and 0.5% to 5% of B.sub.2O.sub.3.

The present invention relates to fiber glass strands, yarns, fabrics, composites, prepregs, laminates, fiber-metal laminates, and other products incorporating glass fibers formed from glass compositions. The glass fibers, in some embodiments, are incorporated into composites that can be used in reinforcement applications. Glass fibers formed from some embodiments of the glass compositions can have certain desirable properties that can include, for example, desirable electrical properties (e.g. low D.sub.k) or desirable mechanical properties (e.g., specific strength).

Laser waveguides, methods and systems for forming a laser waveguide are provided. The waveguide includes an inner cladding layer surrounding a central axis and a glass core surrounding and located outside of the inner cladding layer. The glass core includes a laser-active material. The waveguide includes an outer cladding layer surrounding and located outside of the glass core. The inner cladding, outer cladding and/or core may surround a hollow central channel or bore and may be annular in shape.

A transparent oxynitride glass that includes aluminum, calcium, magnesium, silicon, oxygen, and nitrogen, wherein the aluminum may be provided by an aluminum source comprising about 1 wt % to about 100 wt % aluminum nitride (AlN), based on the total weight of aluminum in the oxynitride glass and/or the nitrogen may be provided by an aluminum source comprising about 1 wt % to about 100 wt % aluminum nitride (AlN), based on the total weight of nitrogen in the oxynitride glass. The oxynitride glass may be substantially free of carbon. Also provided are uses of and articles comprising the oxynitride glass and methods of making the oxynitride glass.

Provided is a fluorine-containing synthetic silica glass powder which contains a sufficient amount of fluorine, and in which a reduction in the fluorine concentration caused by dissociation of fluorine from silica can be inhibited. Problems are solved by a fluorine-containing silica glass powder which contains particles having a particle size of more than 150 m but 300 m or less in an amount of 25% by weight or more as a whole. Also provided as a method of producing the glass powder is, for example, a method of producing a fluorine-containing silica glass powder, which method includes: prefiring a silicon oxide at a temperature of lower than 1,000 C. in the presence of SiF.sub.4 to prepare a fluorine-containing silica; and subsequently firing the fluorine-containing silica at a temperature of 1,000 C. or higher but lower than 1,400 C. to produce a silica glass powder.

An optical nanocomposite containing optically active crystals (rare earth or transition metal doped) in a suitably index-, dispersion-, thermo-optically matched matrix enables creation of a glass ceramic with unique optical properties. By further tuning the viscosity of the composite, it can be drawn into fiber form, dissolved into solution and subsequently deposited as a thin film, or used as a bulk optical component. Critical to achieving a viable material is closely matching the attributes needed to not only achieve optical function but to enable fabrication under elevated temperatures (i.e., during fiber drawing) or in unique chemical or thermal environments, such as during deposition as a thin film. This invention uses nanosized crystalline powders (nanocrystalsNC), blended with multicomponent chalcogenide glass (ChG) to form an optical nanocomposite. The blended NC:glass integrates compositional tailoring to enable matching of optical properties (index, dispersion, dn/dT), specialized dispersion methods to ensure homogeneous physical dispersion of NCs within the glass matrix during preparation, while minimizing agglomeration and mismatch of coefficient of thermal expansion. The latter attributes are critical to maintaining low loss (optical scatter) and induced stress birefringence due to mismatch between the NC and glass' parent properties. By tailoring the base glass composition's viscosity versus temperature profile, the resulting bulk nanocomposite can be further formed to create an optical fiber, while maintaining physical dispersion on NCs, avoiding segregation of the NCs. This enables low loss conditions suitable for lasing within the material.

An optical fiber includes an outer diameter less than 220 m, a glass fiber that includes a glass core and a glass cladding, a primary coating, and a secondary coating. The glass cladding surrounds and is in direct contact with the glass core. The primary coating surrounds and is in direct contact with the glass fiber. The primary coating can have a Young's modulus less than 0.5 MPa and a thickness less than 30.0 m. The secondary coating surrounds and is in direct contact with the primary coating. The secondary coating can have a thickness less than 27.5 m. A pullout force of the optical fiber can be less than a predetermined threshold when in an as-drawn state. The pullout force may increase by less than a factor of 2.0 upon aging the primary and secondary coatings on the glass fiber for at least 60 days.