Low phonon energies and wideband optical windows of La2O3-Ga2O3 glasses prepared using an aerodynamic levitation technique

x La 2 O 3 -(100 −  x )Ga 2 O 3 binary glasses were synthesized by an aerodynamic levitation technique. The glass-forming region was found to be 20 ≤  x  ≤ 57. The refractive indices were greater than 1.92 and increased linearly with increasing x . The polarizabilities of oxide ions were estimated to be 2.16–2.41 Å 3 , indicating that the glasses were highly ionic. The glasses were transparent over a very wide range from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared region. The widest transparent window among the oxide glasses was from 270 nm to 10 μm at x  = 55. From the Raman scattering spectra, a decrease in bridging oxide ions and an increase in non-bridging oxide ions were confirmed to occur with increasing La 2 O 3 content. The maximum phonon energy was found to be approximately 650 cm −1 , being one of the lowest among oxide glasses. These results show that La 2 O 3 -Ga 2 O 3 binary glasses should be promising host materials for optical applications such as lenses, windows, and filters over a very wide wavelength range.