Optimisation of melting and casting conditions for Zr-fluoride based glasses

A systematic investigation was carried out on melting and casting of Zr-fluoride based glasses in order to find out the optimum fabrication conditions. Several rods were prepared with variation in compositions and melting/casting parameters. They were characterised to compare their optical homogeneity and stability. The results showed an appreciable influence of the conditions selected during different stages of melting on the glass quality. The fabrication conditions were optimised for three different compositions suitable for making optical fibre preforms.