Sol-Gel Based Nanoparticles for 3D Printing of Optical Glass
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Creighton University, Omaha, NE (United States)
Additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing provides an innovative way to produce gradient index (GRIN) lens and other high-performance optics. Novel inks for direct ink write (DIW) 3D printed optical glass have been reported; however, the refractive index has never surpassed a value of 1.48. Here, we report a ternary formulation of core-shell SiO2 nanoparticles coated with a TiO2 shell and GeO2 nanoparticles that can be used as a feedstock for DIW lenses. Printable titanium-germanium-silica inks were prepared from colloidal sol-gel feed stocks to produce shear-thinning inks for DIW. The inks were dried and sintered following an optimized heat treatment to remove organic material and produce a transparent and void-free monolith. Through this method, we found that these lenses are transparent at dopant concentrations of 7 mol% TiO2 and 14 mol% GeO2. With higher dopant concentrations of germanium and titanium, these lenses subsequently have a refractive index of 1.52. Moreover, these inks share the same viscoelastic properties as previous shear thinning DIW inks, allowing these inks to be 3D printed.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1558330
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-TR-787707; 983375
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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