High-refraction index glasses with ultra-high Young's modulus and high hardness fabricated by containerless processing

High-refractive index glasses with ultra-high Young's modulus and superior hardness have significant application in optical lenses. Research indicates that high-entropy glasses, enriched with high dissociation energy and high-field strength components, enhance the mechanical properties of glass. In this study, we tailored high-entropy glasses to achieve superior optical and mechanical attributes by optimizing heavy metal oxide components and adjusting the Al2O3 content. The resultant 10RE(2)O(3)-10Gd(2)O(3)-32Al(2)O(3)-36Ta(2)O(5)-12ZrO(2) (RE = La, Tm, Lu) glass demonstrates a refractive index of 2.028, a Young's modulus of 186.2 GPa, and a Vickers hardness of 9.18 GPa. The glass was colorless and widely transparent, in the visible-to-infrared region from 312.5 to 6674 nm, and the maximum transmittance reach up to 79.3%. These results indicate that the 10RE(2)O(3)-10Gd(2)O(3)-32Al(2)O(3)-36Ta(2)O(5)-12ZrO(2) glass would be useful for camera and detector lenses.