TITLE:
Anderson Localization Light Guiding in a Two-Phase Glass
AUTHORS:
Nicholas F. Borrelli, Thomas P. Seward, Karl W. Koch, Lisa A. Lamberson
KEYWORDS:
Anderson Localization, Imagining Optical Fiber, Phase Separated Glass
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Modern Physics,
Vol.13 No.5,
May
31,
2022
ABSTRACT: Anderson localization has been realized in several different systems over the years. In this paper we describe a rather unique manifestation of the phenomenon occurring in a two-phase glass composition that guides light. The glasses are a borate or alkali borosilicate composition that when heated separates into two distinct phases of different compositions, a high index phase and a low index phase. When the glass is heated with a specific thermal schedule to develop the phase separation it is then drawn into a rod or fiber, the particulate phase forms elongated strands resulting in a random cross-sectional refractive index pattern. This pattern of refractive index is maintained along the length producing a light guiding behavior over a significant distance that we propose is a manifestation of an Anderson localization phenomenon.