A glass act

A process for making glass without a container could lead to new insights into how glasses are formed as well as improved mass-production techniques, according to a team from

.

The process, which can make samples of glass in minutes, could also mean the development of new types of high-performance glass.

The team, led by Adrian Barnes, is studying the properties of glasses formed at very high temperatures. 'If you heat things up, you expect to put your sample materials into a crucible or container of some sort, and put it into a radiative furnace,' he said. 'But the problem is, the higher the temperature gets, the more difficult it is to find a suitable furnace. You have the additional problem of what to put the sample in.'

There are two main problems with containers, explained Barnes. First, the team is making glasses which need temperatures above 3000K, and there are a limited number of materials that can withstand these temperatures. 'Even with very good containers, you get impurities coming in, and they can contaminate the sample,' said Barnes.