This book is an introduction to recent progress in the development and application of glass with special photonics properties. Glass has a number of structural and practical advantages over crystalline materials, including excellent homogeneity, variety of form and size, and the potential for doping with a variety of dopant materials. Glasses with photonic properties have great potential and are expected to play a significant role in the next generation of multimedia systems. Fundamentals of glass materials are explained in the first chapter, and the book then proceeds to a discussion of gradient index glass, laser glasses, nonlinear optical glasses and magneto-optical glasses. Beginning with the basic theory, the book discusses actual problems, performance and applications of glasses. The book will be of value to graduate students, researchers and professional engineers working in materials science, chemistry and physics with an interest in photonics and glass with special properties.

From the reviews: "The book should be acquired by all libraries with an interest in glass science and applications...the title will endure for many years as the standard work on the properties of optical glass." Optical Systems Engineering

This Encyclopedia begins with an introduction summarizing itsscope and content. Glassmaking; Structure of Glass, GlassPhysics,Transport Properties, Chemistry of Glass, Glass and Light,Inorganic Glass Families, Organic Glasses, Glass and theEnvironment, Historical and Economical Aspect of Glassmaking,History of Glass, Glass and Art, and outlinepossible newdevelopments and uses as presented by the best known people in thefield (C.A. Angell, for example). Sections and chapters arearranged in a logical order to ensure overall consistency and avoiduseless repetitions. All sections are introduced by a briefintroduction and attractive illustration. Newly investigatedtopics will be addresses, with the goal of ensuring that thisEncyclopedia remains a reference work for years to come.