The researchers used the glass-in-glass process to create the EPFL logo in the project to demonstrate how the method can create complex 3D shapes.

Based on various combinations of chalcogenides such as sulfur, tellurium and selenium, chalcogenide glasses are attractive optical materials due to their wide infrared transmission windows and potential nonlinear properties.

However, their mechanical properties as well as chemical and environmental stability are generally poor, so the fabrication of 3D microstructures of chalcogenide glasses remains a challenge.

A research project at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has developed a fabrication method known as "glass-in-glass" for 3D geometrically complex chalcogenide-dioxide, reports Memes Consulting Silicon microglass composites for infrared imaging and sensing applications.

The research, published recently in the journal Optics Express, creates a structure that matches the shape of the sculpted silica mold by building a shaped 3D cavity within a fused silica mold and then filling it with chalcogenide glass.

EPFL researcher Enrico Casamenti said: "Our fabrication method promises to open the door to entirely new optical components for the fabrication of infrared optical circuits and infrared micro-optics of arbitrary shapes. Due to the poor manufacturability of infrared glass, this has been previously It is impossible to achieve.”

The two materials, fused silica and chalcogenide, provide a high-refractive-index contrasting combination, according to EPFL. In addition to its specific optical properties, fused silica can provide chemical resistance, mechanical support, and protection for chalcogenide microstructures, and may itself contain other properties required for integration and encapsulation.