Patent ID: 8333089

Claim:
A method for making fluorophosphates glass comprising the steps of: batching the glass components; melting the glass components to form a molten mixture; cooling the molten glass mixture to a solid state; annealing the glass in the solid state; slowly cooling the annealing glass to approximately ambient temperature; the glass components consisting of on a mol percent basis of: Ba(PO 3 ) 2 from 5 to 60 percent; Al(PO 3 ) 3 from 5 to 60 percent; a fluoride selected from the group of BaF 2 , CaF 2 , MgF 2 , PbF 2 , and BiF 3 from 10 to 90 percent; and a dopant from 2 to 15 percent on a mol percent basis selected from the group of Nd 2 O 3 , Er 2 O 3 , Yb 2 O 3 , Tm 2 O 3 , Tb 2 O 3 , Ho 2 O 3 , Pr 2 O 3 and MnO and mixtures thereof.