Calculation of the Refractive Index of Glasses

The chapter discusses the methods of molar refraction and Demkina for calculating refractive index of glasses. The Clausius-Mosotti equation shows that the molar refraction of a glass can be related to its refractive index. The molar refraction is also related to the structure of the glass through the sum of polarizabilities of its components and its Loschmidt number. In contrast to the molar refraction technique that uses atomic components, the Demkina method allows to determine which molecular components contribute most to the index and the dispersion. This method acts as the basis for the computer-based look-up tables of optical properties. Additional methods include the Lorentz-Lorenz method and the Sun-Huggins method, both are similar to the Demkina method.