MXPA00009849A - Antimony oxide glass with optical activity - Google Patents

Abstract

A glass consisting essentially of antimony oxide. An optically active glass consisting essentially of antimony oxide and up to about 4 mole%of an oxide of a rare earth element. A rare earth-doped, antimony oxide-containing glass including 0-99 mole%SiO2, 0-99 mole%GeO2, 0-75 mole%(Al, Ga)2O3, 0.5-99 mole%Sb2O3, and up to about 4 mole%of an oxide of a rare earth element. The oxide of the rare earth element may comprise Er2O3. The glass of the invention further includes fluorine, expressed as a metal fluoride. An optical energy-producing or light-amplifying device, in particular, an optical amplifier, comprising the above-described glass. The optical amplifier can be either a fiber amplifier or a planar amplifier, either of which may have a hybrid composition. Embodiments of the glass of the invention can be formed by conventional glass making techniques, while some of the high content antimony oxide embodiments are formed by splat or roller quenching.

Description

ANTIMONIAL OXIDE GLASS WITH OPTICAL ACTIVITY This application claims priority to the provisional request of E.U.A. (Dickinson 15) filed on April 8, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. - FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to glass compositions containing antimony oxide and, more particularly, to optically active antimony oxide-containing glasses which are optically active being doped with a rare earth element; its use in optical amplifying devices and optical amplifying devices that incorporate these compositions; and methods for making the glass compositions of the invention. As used herein, the term "optically active" refers to a glass impurified with rare earth capable of stimulated emission to amplify a light signal when the glass is excited by a suitable pump source. 2. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND Recently, transparent materials capable of efficient frequency upconversion, in particular, several glasses and fluoride crystals doped with rare earth ions, have received much attention due to their potential use in blue or green solid state lasers. Single-mode optical fibers doped with low levels of rare earth ions can be drawn out of fluoride glasses, producing highly efficient blue or green up-conversion fiber lasers. Unfortunately, heavy metal fluoride glasses have certain undesirable attributes that have restricted their applications. Most notably, heavy metal fluoride glasses exhibit resistance to poor devitrification. Mimura et al. discusses the crystallization problems of heavy metal fluoride glasses, an example of which is called ZBLAN, the light scattering problems that result from them. The susceptibility of heavy metal fluoride glasses to devitrification creates problems when manufacturing large preforms. The crystallization in the preform causes difficulties during the formation of optical fibers by commonly used methods. Heavy metal fluoride glasses are quite prone to heterogeneous nucleation, which leads to crystallization at the abutting surfaces of the core and coating during the stretching of the optical fiber. The resulting crystals in the fibers cause losses by severe light scattering.

Devitrification of heavy metal fluoride glasses is aggravated when ions necessary to impart differences in refractive indices to the core and coating are added to the glass composition. Further doping, for example, with rare earth metals, also tends to reduce the stability of the glass. As a consequence of such problems, the research has focused on finding additives for a base fluoride glass composition that reduce the tendency of the glass to devitrify and increase the chemical stability thereof. In addition, the preparation of fluoride glasses requires that the components forming the glass be reheated at high temperatures. Also, these glasses can not be fused in air but require an inert gas environment, free of water. Most oxide glasses, such as, for example, silicon dioxide, are easier to prepare, more chemically and mechanically stable, and it is easier to manufacture from the same rods, optical fibers, or flat waveguides, which the fluoride glasses. Unfortunately, due to its higher phonon energy, silica glasses are very inefficient for upward infrared conversion. The addition of even small amounts of oxides in the fluoride glasses to improve their stability significantly extinguishes their ascending conversion luminescence. One author describes a class of infrared upconverting ("IR") materials prepared from classical glass-forming oxides (SiO2, GeO2, P2O5, etc., which contain PbF2 and rare earth oxides).

These materials show an efficiency almost twice as high as a phosphoric substance of LaF3: Yb: Er; but, because they are heterogeneous and include both a vitreous phase and a crystalline phase containing large embedded crystals (ca 10 μm), they are not transparent. Another reference describes oxyfluoride glass ceramics (also called ceramic glass) that contain high phonic energy oxides such as S0O2 and AIO.5 but show IR to visible upconversion that are more efficient than fluoride glass. A typical composition reported consists essentially, expressed in terms of molar percentage, of: SiO2,30; AIO., 5.15; PbF2.24; CdF2.20; YbF3.10; ErF3,1. The heat treatment of that composition at 470 ° C causes the formation of microcrystallites, which are reported not to reduce the body's transparency. It is also stated that the ions Yb3 + and Er3"1" are preferably segregated from the precursor glass and dissolved in the microcrystals during the heat treatment. It is reported that the microcrystallites are of a size of approximately 20 nm, small enough so that the light loss of the dispersion is minimal. It is said that the upconversion efficiency of its products is about 2 to 10 times as high as that measured in the precursor glass and other glasses containing fluoride. However, the crystals that form in the reported glass have a cubic lattice structure, which limits the concentration of some of the trivalent rare earth elements that can be incorporated into the ceramic glass. Another problem with these materials is that their formulation requires cadmium, a carcinogen whose use is restricted. In addition, the reported ceramic glass does not appear to have a broad flat emission spectrum required for some optical amplifier applications. Glasses contaminated with rare earth have found frequent use for the manufacture of devices for light generation and light amplification. For example, Snitzer describes a glass with laser capacity comprising a host material containing a trivalent fluorescent neodymium ingredient. Desurvire eí al. describes an optical amplifier comprising a fiber in a simple manner having a core doped with erbium, da Silva et al. discloses an apparatus and method for flattening the gain of an optical amplifier using an erbium-doped silica fiber having a germanosilicate core. Bruce et al. discloses an erbium doped flat optical device whose active core includes a mixture of oxides such as lanthanum and aluminum oxides. The inclusion of antimony oxide in glasses for optical devices is also reported. A reference describes a glass for use in waveguides containing 50-75 mole% of SbO..5. For the construction of efficient optical amplifiers, there remains a need for new, easily prepared glasses that show an optical combination of gain and width. The glass of the present invention satisfies this need well.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an optically active glass containing Sb2? 3 and up to about 4 mol% of an oxide of a rare earth element. All the constituents listed herein are expressed in molar percentages on an oxide base. A non-purified, non-active base glass may consist essentially of Sb2O3. Its active form can consist essentially of Sb2? 3 and up to about 4% of RE2O3, where RE is a rare earth element. A glass comprising Sb2O3 and up to about 4% RE2O3 can preferably include 0-99% SiO2, 0-99% GeO2 and 0-75% (AI2O3 or Ga2O3). In addition, any of the glass compositions described herein can contain up to 10 mol% of B2? 3 substituted by an equivalent amount of Sb2? 3. Although the glass of the present invention is highly desirable since it can be manufactured in air using standard melting techniques and batch reagentsWhen the glass contains approximately 90% or more of Sb2? 3, it is formed by platen extinction or quenching techniques. The glass composition of the present invention has a gain spectrum with excellent width and flatness characteristics and can be easily modified for specific optical amplifier applications. Also, according to the present invention there is an optical power producing device or light amplifying optical device, in particular an optical amplifier, comprising the glass of the invention. The optical amplifier can be either a fiber amplifier or a flat amplifier, any of which can be of a hybrid construction (composition).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1A is a graph comparing the emission spectra of 1400 nm to 1700 nm of an aluminosilicate glass, a fluoride glass (ZBLAN), and a glass containing antimony, doped with erbium of the invention; Figure 1 B is a detailed version of Figure 1A on the scale from 1500 nm to 1600 nm; Figure 2 is a graph of the calculated gain spectra for a glass of the invention; and Figure 3 is a graph of the calculated gain spectra for 61-65% step inversion of 0.5% for a glass of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES The optically active glass of the present invention expressed in mole percent on an oxide base comprises Sb2O3 and up to about 4 mol% of an oxide of a rare earth element. Preferably the glass comprises 0.5-99 mole% of Sb2? 3, and preferably approximately 0.1-0.2 mole% of Er2O3. The glass preferably also comprises a residue of one or more compatible metal oxides. In a preferred embodiment, the optically active glass consists essentially of Sb2? 3 and up to about 4% Re2? 3, where Re is an oxide of a rare earth element. Although erbium is the rare earth especially preferred, the glass may comprise other rare earth elements to impart optical activity to the glass as defined herein, as described below. Those skilled in the art will understand that rare earth does not participate in the formation of glass per se. Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention is a glass consisting essentially of Sb2O3. The glass of the invention may also comprise 0.99% SiO2, 0-99% GeO2, and 0-75% (AI2O3 or Ga2O3). In one aspect of each of the embodiments of the invention, up to 10 mol% of B2? 3 can be substituted by an equivalent amount of Sb2O3. The effect of B2? 3 has at least two aspects: it unfavorably reduces the lifetime of the emission at 1530 nm, however, more importantly, it apparently reduces the life time t32 (metastable pumping level of 980 nm ) at a faster rate which is preferable for pumping an erbium doped optical amplifier made from the glass compositions of the invention at 980 nm. The glass of the invention may also comprise 0-45 mole% of AO, where A is Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, or mixtures thereof, and / or 0-45 mole% of MO, where M is Mg , Ca, Sr, Zn, Ba, Pb, or mixtures thereof. The rare earth element is Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, or mixtures thereof, and Scandium (Sc) can be replaced by a rare earth in one embodiment of the invention. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the glass comprises 50-72 mole% of SiO2, 10-20 mole% of AI2O3, 10-30 mole% of Sb2O3, 10-20 mole% of K2O, and about 0.1 mole% of Er2O3. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the glass also comprises a fluoride, bromide, metal chloride or mixtures thereof. The metal can be a trivalent, divalent, or monovalent metal, or mixtures thereof. In another preferred embodiment, the metal haiogenide is a metal fluoride such as AI2F6, CaF2, K2F2, or mixtures thereof. The mole fraction (metal fluoride) / (metal fluoride + total oxides) of the glass is preferably about 0.01 to 0.25, most preferably about 0.1 to 0.2. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the glass comprises 50-72 mole% of SiO2, 10-20 mole% of AI2O3, 10-30 mole% of Sb2? 3, 10-20 mole% of K2O, and about 0.1% Molar of Er2? 3, and also includes 5-20 mole% of a metal haiogenide. Also, according to the present invention there is an optical power producing device or optical amplifying device. Preferably, the device is an optical amplifier comprising the glass containing antimony oxide, impurified with a rare earth element that was described above. The optical amplifier can be either a fiber amplifier or a flat amplifier, as described in, for example, US Patents. Nos. 5,027,079, 5,239,607, and 5,563,979, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The fiber amplifier can be in addition to a hybrid structure combining legs formed from a glass of the invention with legs formed from a standard aluminosilicate glass, as described, for example, in M. Yamada et al., "Flattening the gain spectrum of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier by connecting an Er-doped S02-AI2O3 fiber and an Erdodo multicomponent fiber," Electronics Lett. 30, pp 1762-1764 (1994), whose description is incorporated in the present by reference. As mentioned in the commonly assigned provisional application, filed previously, and co-pending by Dickinson et al., RARE-HALOGENURO EARTH ELEMENT ELEMENTS IN GLASSES OF OXIHALOGENURO, Serial No. 60/067245, filed on December 2 of 1997, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference, the local bonding environments of rare earth elements ("REE") in glasses determine the characteristics of their emission and absorption spectra. Several factors influence the width, shape, and absolute energy of emission and absorption bands, including the identity of the anion (s) and near-closer-colliding cations, the symmetry of any particular site, the total scale of compositions of site and symmetries throughout the overall sample, and the degree to which the emission at a particular wavelength is coupled to the phonics modes within the sample. Fluoride glasses are useful hosts for optically active REE, because the fluorine atoms surrounding the REE substantially have an impact on the emission and absorption spectra of the REE. The extreme electronegativity of fluorine increases the degradation of the electronic states of the REE, producing emission and absorption bands that differ substantially from those produced in oxide hosts, being broader and with different relative intensities and, sometimes, different positions. They are also often changed to blue in relation to their positions in oxide glasses. In general, the absolute position and width of an emission or absorption band changes to reduce energy as the electronegativity of the surrounding anions decreases: for example, the total bandwidth of the 1530 nm emission band Er3 * in Fluoride glasses, such as ZBLAN, is higher than in almost any oxide glass, and the high-energy edge of the emission band in a fluoride glass is at a higher energy than in an oxide glass. In certain systems, such as hybrid oxyfluoride glasses, it is possible to obtain much of the bandwidth and gain flatness of a fluoride glass by creating environments for the REE which are a combination of oxide type and fluoride type sites. For optical amplifier applications, the region over which a curl of emission and absorption is the most flat is the optimal window through which to pass signals. Because both the position of the emission bands in general and the structure within the band vary from fluoride to oxide hosts, the window with optimal gain range also varies. Ideally, it would be desirable to obtain the widest possible emission in a single glass. With regard to oxide glasses, fluoride glasses can also accommodate very high concentrations of REE without incurring irradiation losses resulting from energy transfers between the REE. However, fluoride glasses must be prepared under controlled atmospheres; they have extremely high coefficients of thermal expansion and are environmentally unstable compared to many oxide glasses, which complicates their use in practical applications. Ideally, glasses that produce the fluoride type environments for the REE are desired while retaining the physical and chemical characteristics of the oxide glasses. As mentioned above, glasses having flat and broad emission spectra are highly desirable for optical amplifier applications. A flat emission spectrum is defined as one that has less than 10% gain wave on bands (or windows) up to 38 nm wide. The inclusion of fluorine in a glass results in an improved dispersion of the REE throughout the glass, which facilitates higher REE loads without degradation of the lifetime. It is believed that higher concentrations of REE are possible that are dispersed in separate places and therefore can not physically interact with each other. The REE includes Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu. In one aspect of the invention, Sc can be replaced by a rare earth element. In accordance with the present invention, Er is especially preferred. The ions of the rare earth element in the glass matrix of the present invention are dispersed in at least two distinct locations that can be characterized as either fluoride sites or oxide sites. The REE ions present in either of these two locations can not interact with those in the other, which allows higher loads of the REE. Accordingly, the use of the glass of the invention makes it possible to reduce the size of an optical amplifier since less waveguide material is required for the same amount of gain. In addition, because the glass of the present invention can provide quantum efficiency during radiation substantially equal to 100%, less powerful pumping lasers are required to generate fluorescent emission. Useful fluorescent emission maxima are in the range of about 1.3 μm to about 1.8 μm. Fluorescent emission maxima of glass impurities with Er are typically in the range of about 1.5 μm to about 1.6 μm. As is well known in the art, amplifiers impurified with Er are typically pumped in the wavelength band of 980 nm or 1480 nm. In a preferred aspect of an optical amplifier embodiment of the invention for signal amplification in the telecommunications window of 1500 nm (C band) and / or in the extended erbium spectrum of approximately 1565-1610 nm (L band), pumped at 980 nm, up to 10 mol% of B2? 3 is replaced by an equivalent amount of Sb2O3. As mentioned above, the B2? 3 reduces the life time i32 which is favorable for pumping an erbium-doped optical amplifier made from glass compositions of the invention at 980 nm. In another preferred aspect of an optical amplifier embodiment of the invention, up to 15 mol% of As2O3 (arsenic trioxide), up to 15 mol% of TI2O (thallium oxide), up to 15 mol% of ln2O3 (indium oxide), and up to 15 mole% of Bi2O3 (bismuth trioxide) can be included in the compositions of the invention to modify the physical properties such as refractive index and viscosity without adverse effect on the performance of the amplifier. Germanium and lead substitutions by silicon or gallium can be used for aluminum to improve the fluorescence intensities and emission life times, and also to modify the liquefaction temperatures, viscosity curves, expansibility, and refractive index. Alkali and alkaline earth metals may be included in the glass to vary the refractive index and to increase or decrease thermal expansibility. Glazes containing optically active REE can be co-purifying together with non-active REE (e.g., Er doped together with La or Y) to increase the emission life times, or impurify together with optically active REE (such as Er doped together with Yb) to improve the quantum efficiency. By varying the overall composition, glasses can be formed with optical transition properties between pure fluoride and pure oxide glasses, thus providing maximum flexibility in optical properties. The glass of the present invention has absorption and emission characteristics which are effectively hybrids of the best characteristics obtained in oxide or fluoride glasses alone. However, unlike the fluoride glasses, which must be prepared in an inert atmosphere, the glass embodiments of the present invention can be manufactured in air using standard melting techniques and batch reagents. In addition, the environmental stability of hybrid glass considerably exceeds that of pure fluoride glasses. Also, the addition of fluorine allows the glass matrix to obtain much of the bandwidth and gain level of a fluoride glass creating environments for the REE which are a combination of oxide type and fluoride type sites. The properties of the glass of the present invention make it particularly useful for the manufacture of a variety of optical devices. With glass, provided with a compatible cover or coating, fiber optic amplifiers or planes, or lasers can be made. It can be used only in flat amplifier applications, or in combination with chlorine-free oxyfluoride coating glasses for double crucible fiberization and rebonding of rod and tube. In addition, emission / absorption spectra of glasses prepared according to the invention can be adjusted to "fill holes" in the gain spectrum of conventional amplifier materials such as silica or ZBLAN, for example, resulting in hybrid amplifiers that provide a greater degree of gain flatness that can be obtained from any of these materials alone. Modes of the glass of the invention can generally be produced in accordance with standard techniques for making glasses: providing glass forming components and treating these components under conditions effective to produce the glass, which generally involves melting the glass forming components to produce a molten product of glass, make a shaped article with the molten glass product, which is then cooled. Preferably, the components are melted at a temperature of about 1300-1500 ° C for about 2 hours to 4 hours to produce the glass melt. Then, with the glass melt, a shaped article is made by forming processes such as, for example, rolling, pressing, casting, or fiber stretching. A shaped article such as, for example, a disc, rod, or sheet, is cooled and then annealed at a temperature of about 350-450 ° C for about 0.5 hour to 2 hours.

After the final heat treatment, the shaped article is allowed to cool to room temperature. Certain embodiments of the glass compositions of the present invention, namely those that include about 90% moles or more of Sb 2 3, were prepared by platen blanking or quenching. Because antimony is not compatible with platinum, the glasses with high antimony oxide content of the invention are melted in silica or alumina crucibles. During heating, some of the Sb2? 3 changes to Sb2Os, and during cooling it forms the very refractory crystalline phase cervantite, Sb2O4. This problem is alleviated by blanking and / or roll extinction as described in Examples 1-3, which appear later. A possible alternative is to melt Sb2O3 in a dry box, known to those skilled in the glass forming art. Table I lists some examples of embodiments of preferred compositions of the invention.

TABLE I Sb2O3 Sio2 GeO2 AI2O3 Ga2O3 Cs2O ln2O3 Na2O K2O F RE2O3 90 9.9 0.1 90 9.9 0.1 94.9 0.1 d 94.9 0.1 3d 25 38 2 3d 2d 38 2 75 24.9 0.1 69.9 0.1 99. 9 0.1 . 3 60.6 3.03 1.52 1.52 1.52 1.52 1 1 27.77 55.54 4.63 4.63 4.63 1.4 1.4 1 1 EXAMPLES The following examples better illustrate the invention: EXAMPLE 1-3 Preparation of glass containing antimony oxide, doped with erbium EXAMPLE 1 The following composition Sb2O3 99.0 mol% Er2O3 0.1 mol% was prepared as follows: A load of 25 g of molten product was maintained at 25-50 ° C above its liquid phase until it reached thermal equilibrium, approximately 10- 15 minutes. In a preferred method aspect for forming this glass by flattening, the charge is delivered to a cold plate (for example, steel or graphite) and is destroyed from above by a cold "hammer" (for example, steel or graphite). With a good configuration, the extinction rate is > 250 ° C / sec. In another aspect of preferred method for forming this glass by roller quenching, the load is supplied between cold rollers (e.g., steel or graphite). Depending on the thermal conductivity of the sample, the extinction rate is> 1000 ° C / s, comparable with the extinction rates obtained in fiberization. The larger molten product samples of the glass can be processed in a similar manner, but the lateral dispersion of the molten product in the flattening extinction limits the largest size that can be handled to approximately 150g. The glass in a roller extinguishing operation is supplied as a direct current, therefore there is no size limit.

EXAMPLE 2 The following composition Sb2O3 90.0 mole% SiO2 9.9 mole% Er2O3 0.1 mole% was prepared by flattening as described in example 1 above.

EXAMPLE 3 The following composition Sb2O3 99.0 mol% GeO2 9.9 mol% Er2O3 0.1 mol% was prepared by blanking extinction as described in example 1 above.

EXAMPLE 4 A glass-forming mixture having the following composition (in molar%) is milled in a ball mill and loaded in a silica crucible: S0O2 55 AI2O3 10.4 AI2F6 5 K2O 0.6 K2F2 10.5 K Br2 1.5 Sb2O3 17 Er2O3 0.1 * added to remove water from the final glass. The crucible is covered and heated to a temperature of about 1425 ° C for about 2 hours. The molten product is poured into a steel plate to form a sheet, which is cooled, then placed in an annealing oven and maintained at a temperature of about 450 ° C for about an hour before it is allowed to cool gradually to room temperature. ambient.

EXAMPLE 5 Spectroscopic analysis of glass samples Absorption spectra of polished 10x10x20-mm glass samples prepared as described in example 4, an aluminosilicate glass (CaAI2Si2O8), and a fluoride glass (ZBLAN) are measured using a Nicolet (Madison Wl) FT-IR spectrophotometer with resolution of 4 cm "1, collecting 256 FID per sample. Er fluorescence is generated by pumping the 520 nm absorption band with a Xenon lamp, and the 1.5 μm emission is measured using a Si detector cooled with liquid nitrogen together with a SPEX Fluorolog spectrophotometer (Edison NJ). in the scale 1400-1700 nm in steps of 0.5 nm, 1.5 seconds / stage, each spectrum is corrected by subtraction of the background, then it is normalized to a value of 1.0 for the maximum peak intensity. the 1400-1700 nm scale are illustrated in figure 1A; a detail for the 1500-1600 nm scale is shown in Figure 1 B. The spectrum width of the glass of the present invention far exceeds that of the aluminosilicate glass and also exceeds that of ZBLAM in the peak region around 1530-1560 nm at approximately 7 nm.

EXAMPLE 6 Determination of Gain Plain for Glass Containing Antimony Oxide Doped with Erbium For a sample of the glass prepared as described in Example 4, the gain spectra are calculated, in stages of 10%, for investment levels ranging from zero to 100%. The graphs of the resulting spectra are shown in Figure 2. The gain spectra are also calculated for investment levels in the 61-65% scale, in stages of 0.5%. The investment percentages are calculated assuming that the maximums of absolute absorption and emission intensity are of equal magnitude. The resulting graphs are shown in Figure 3. A Gain Plain Quality Coefficient (FOM) is defined as (MAX-MI N) / MIN, where MAX and MIN are, respectively, the largest and smallest values for gain. within a "window", or specified wavelength scale. For the glass of Example 4, FOMs are calculated for "floating windows" of 30, 35 and 40 nm in width; the results are shown in table II.

PICTURE Window width Tilt scale% inversion FOM (nm) wave (nm) 30 1535-1565 63 7 35 1530-1565 63 7 40 1528-1568 63.5 14.5 As shown by the data in Table II, the calculated gain spectra show a very flat response (FOM = 7, corresponding to a gain wave of 7%) for the 30 and 35 nm windows, which is maintained substantially for a window 38 nm wide. Even for the 40 nm wide window, a desirable flat response (FOM = 14.5, ac gain wave 15%) is maintained. These excellent gain-level results far exceed those that can be obtained with previously known silica amplifier materials. Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that said detail is solely for that purpose, and those skilled in the art can make variations therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined by the following claims.

Claims (40)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - An optically active glass (in mole% on an oxide base), comprising: Sb2O3; and at least one of RE2? 3, where RE is a rare earth element, in an amount sufficient to provide optical amplification, at approximately 4%.

2. The glass according to claim 1 further comprising a residue of a compatible metal oxide.

3. The glass according to claim 1, further characterized in that Sb2? 3 is 0.5-99%.

4. The glass according to claim 1 further comprising: 0-99% SiO2; 0-99% of GeO2; and 0-75% (AI2O3 or Ga2O3).

5. The glass according to claim 4, further characterized in that said glass includes about 0.1-0.2 mole% of Er2O3 further comprises: 10-80 mole% of SiO2, 5-30 mole% of AI2O3, 5-50 mole% of Sb2O3.

6. The glass according to claim 5 further comprising: 50-72 mole% of SiO2, 10-20 mole% of AI2O3, 10-30 mole% of Sb2O3, 10-20 mole% of K2O, and about 0.1 Molar% of Er2O3.

7. - The glass according to claim 6 further comprising: 5-20 mole% of a metal haiogenide selected from the group consisting of a metal fluoride, a metal bromide, a metal chloride, and mixtures thereof, further characterized in that said metal is a trivalent metal, a divalent metal, a monovalent metal and mixtures thereof.

8. The glass according to claim 7, further characterized in that said metal haiogenide is a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of AI2F6, CaF2, K2F2, and mixtures thereof.

9. The glass according to claim 4 further comprising: 0-75% of A2O, wherein A is selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and mixtures thereof.

10. The glass according to claim 4 further comprising: 0-15% As203; 0-15% of Tl20; 0-15% of ln2O3, and 0-15% of Bi2O3.

11. The glass according to claim 4, further characterized in that 0-10 mol% of B2O3 is replaced by an equivalent amount of Sb2? 3.

12. The glass according to claim 4 further comprising: 0-45 mol% of MO, wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Zn, Ba, Pb, and mixtures thereof.

13. - The glass according to claim 4, further characterized in that the rare earth element is selected from the group consisting of Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er , Tm, Yb, Lu, and mixtures thereof.

14. The glass according to claim 13, further characterized in that the oxide of said rare earth element comprises Er2? 3.

15. The glass according to claim 14 further comprising about 0.05-0.4 mole% of Er2O3.

16. The glass according to claim 1 further comprising a metal haiogenide selected from the group consisting of a metal fluoride, a metal bromide, a metal chloride, and a mixture thereof, further characterized in that said metal it is selected from the group consisting of a trivalent metal, a divalent metal, a monovalent metal, and mixtures thereof.

17. The glass according to claim 16, further characterized in that said metal haiogenide is a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of AI2F6, CaF2, K2F2, and mixtures thereof.

18. The glass according to claim 17 having a molar fraction (metal fluoride) / (metal fluoride + total oxide) of about 0.01 to 0.25.

19. - The glass according to claim 18, further characterized in that said fraction is approximately 0.1 to 0.25.

20. A method for manufacturing the glass of claim 1, comprising at least one of the steps of: extinguishing by flattening the glass; and extinction by glass roller.

21.- A glass consisting essentially of Sb2O3.

22. A method for manufacturing the glass of claim 21, comprising at least one of the steps of: extinguishing by flattening the glass; and extinction by glass roller.

23. An optically active glass consisting essentially of Sb2O3, and up to about 4% of RE2? 3, where RE is a rare earth element.

24. A method for manufacturing the glass of claim 23, comprising at least one of the steps of: extinguishing by flattening the glass; and extinction by glass roller.

25. An optical energy producing device or light amplifier comprising the glass according to claim 11.

26.- The device according to claim 25, further characterized in that said glass further comprises: 0-45 mol% of A2O, where A is selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and mixtures thereof.

27. The device according to claim 25, further characterized in that said glass further comprises: 0-45 mol% of MO, wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Zn, Ba, Pb, and mixtures thereof.

28. The device according to claim 25, further characterized in that said rare earth element is selected from the group consisting of Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho , Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and mixtures thereof.

29. The device according to claim 28, further characterized in that the oxide of said rare earth element comprises Er2? 3.

30. The device according to claim 25, further characterized in that said glass further comprises: 5-20 mole% of a metal haiogenide selected from the group consisting of a metal fluoride, a metal bromide, a metal chloride , and mixtures thereof, further characterized in that said metal is selected from the group consisting of a trivalent metal, a divalent metal, a monovalent metal, and mixtures thereof.

31. The device according to claim 30, further characterized in that said metal haiogenide is a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of AI2F6, CaF2, K2F2, and mixtures thereof, and said glass has a mole fraction ( metal fluoride) / (metal fluoride + total oxides) from about 0.01 to 0.25.

32. The device according to claim 25, further characterized in that said glass further comprises: 10-80 mole% of SiO2, 5-30 mole% of AI2O3, 5-50 mole% of Sb2O3, and about 0.1-0.2% molar of Er2O3.

33. The device according to claim 32, further characterized in that said glass further comprises: 50-72 mole% of SiO2, 10-20 mole% of AI2O3, 10-30 mole% of Sb2O3, 10-20 mole% of K2O, and approximately 0.1 mol% of Er2O3.

34. The device according to claim 33, further characterized in that said glass further comprises: 5-20 mole% of a metal haiogenide selected from the group consisting of a metal fluoride, a metal bromide, metal chloride and mixtures thereof, wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of a trivalent metal, a divalent metal, a monovalent metal, and mixtures thereof.

35. The device according to claim 34, further characterized in that said metal haiogenide is a metal fluoride selected from the group consisting of AI2F6, CaF2, K2F2, and mixtures thereof.

36. The device according to claim 25, further characterized in that said amplifier is one of a fiber amplifier and a planar amplifier.

37.- The device according to claim 36, further characterized in that said amplifier is a hybrid composition.

38. - The device according to claim 25 having a fluorescence emission spectrum with a maximum at about 1.5 μm to about 1.6 μm. 39.- The device according to claim 25 further comprising: 0-15% As2O3; 0-15 of TI2O; 0-15% of ln2O3, and 0-15 of Bi2O3. 40.- The glass according to claim 1, which also includes Scandium.