Bulk ytterbium aluminosilicate glass with excellent mechanical properties and plasma etching resistance

Bulk ytterbium aluminosilicate glass was prepared via boron nitride embedding using Yb ₂O ₃, Al ₂O ₃ and SiO ₂ powders as raw materials. The glass-forming ability, mechanical properties, thermal properties, optical properties, and plasma etching behavior of the ytterbium aluminosilicate glass were investigated. Among the investigated glass compositions, 15Yb ₂O ₃-25Al ₂O ₃-60SiO ₂ (mol.%) has the best glass-forming ability. Its flexural strength, compressive strength, fracture toughness, and elastic modulus were 166 ± 6 MPa, 1104 ± 59 MPa, 1.3 ± 0.1 MPa m ^1/2, and 113 ± 0.1 GPa, respectively. The as-prepared glass exhibited high glass transition temperature (847 °C), low thermal conductivity (0.79 W m ⁻¹ K ⁻¹ at 25 °C) and good thermal stability. Furthermore, the prepared ytterbium aluminosilicate glass showed excellent fluorine plasma etching resistance owing to the generation of low volatility fluorine compounds during etching and excellent resistance to plasma sputtering. The reason for relatively low visible and infrared transmittances of the as-prepared glass was also discussed.