2014 Volume 83 Issue 7 Pages 560-564
Glass-ceramics (GCs) are polycrystals obtained by crystallization of the functional phase in precursor glass. Because the crystallized phase and its morphology are controllable, the GC processing is effective for creating the advanced functional materials. Recently, our research group has demonstrated “perfect surface crystallization (PSC)” in non-stoichiometric precursor glass. The PSC refers to the formation of a uniform/dense crystalline texture, in which the crystal domains grow from the glass surfaces, and eventually their growth fronts impinge on each other. We found that the PSC-GCs consisting of a polar fresnoite phase possess a strong orientation, and also demonstrate an excellent optical transmittance and optical switching/modulation function that is comparable to that of an optical single crystal.
