The rapid development of global information and network leads to an explosive growth of information capacity. The soaring information capacity urgently requires to construct the optical communication system with a ultrahigh capacity, which efficiently utilizes a low loss window of all wave silica fiber. This demands developing novel broadband amplification materials. The broadband near-infrared luminescence of glass and fiber has thus attracted recent attentions. In this review, we introduced recent development on the broadband near-infrared luminescence of glass and fiber, including rare-earth element ions, transition metal, main group element and quantum dots-doped glass and fiber. In addition, we also analyzed the current problems of broadband near-infrared luminescence of glass and fiber, and prospected the anticipated trend and application requirements.

Fiber sensors based on the principle of evanescent waves are widely used in liquid, gas, and biochemical sensors due to their high sensitivity, fast response speed and low cost. Meanwhile, mid-infrared optical fibers based on tellurite glass, fluoride glass, chalcogenide glass and halide crystal have attracted much recent attention in the sensing field because of their wide infrared transmission range. This paper reviewed the principle of mid-infrared fiber optic evanescent wave sensing, introduced the characteristics of various mid-infrared fiber matrix materials, fiber structure and parametric properties, provided a detailed review of its sensing progress in the mid-infrared of gases, liquids, and biochemistry. In addition, the development tendency of mid-infrared optical fiber evanescent wave sensors was also prospected.

CsPbX₃ (X=Cl, Br, I) perovskite quantum dots embedded glass-ceramics (GCs) are a composite material with the steady physical and chemical properties of glass matrix phase and the superior optical performance of CsPbX₃ quantum dot phase. These materials are used in optical data storage, random laser, X-ray image, lighting and display, solar cells, photocatalysis, etc.. Recent advances on the preparation and the corresponding performance/application were introduced, i.e., the use of fs laser to form CsPbX₃ in selected zone to serve as optical data storage, thereby showing the regular pattern of these materials' composition-structure-performance relationship. Nevertheless, these are some challenges of investigating for these materials, i.e., the in-situ formation of CsPbX₃ in glass matrix is entirely unclear. And the studies on CsPbX₃ precursors' occurrence state, neighbor structure and morphological distribution could further help to understand the formation mechanism of CsPbX₃ in glass, providing a guide to obtain the better CsPbX₃ perovskite quantum dots embedded GCs.

Scintillators as the core materials of radiation detection play an important role in industrial nondestructive testing, medical imaging, high energy physics and safety inspection, etc.. The existing scintillator research faces both opportunities and challenges, especially in the context of COVID-19 pandemic period. It is of great practical significance to develop cost-effective scintillators and optimize their overall performance. The nano-glass composites (i.e., glass ceramics) have some advantages like high emission efficiency of scintillator crystals, simple preparation and low cost as an effective star scintillator. Based on the different luminescence centers, such scintillators can be broadly divided into rare-earth element ions doped or rare-earth-free luminescent nanocrystals embedded materials. This review represented recent development on the preparation of these materials, the relationship between the types of nanocrystals and their luminescence properties, and the potential applications of these materials in high-energy X-ray and gamma-ray detection. In addition, the existing problems in the research were discussed and the future development direction of nano-glass composite scintillators was also prospected.

It is important to carry out accurate and reliable temperature measurements for daily life, industrial production and scientific work. The non-contact temperature sensing technology has attracted extensive attention, and recent work on the optical temperature sensing of rare-earth ions doped upconversion luminescent materials becomes popular. This review represented the optical temperature measurement mechanism of the upconversion materials, the latest research work of rare-earth element ions doped upconversion phosphors and upconversion glass ceramics in the field of optical temperature sensing and other functional applications based on optical temperature sensing. In addition, the future development trend was also prospected based on the research achievements and existing problems of rare earth upconversion luminescent materials in the field of optical temperature sensing.

Glass optical fibers doped with nanocrystals with optoelectronic function are highly anticipated for potential applications in optical communication, remote sensing, biomedicine, and nonlinear optics. In this review, a versatile fiber-drawing approach so called "melt-in-tube" (MIT) was represented to produce nanocrystals doped glass optical fibers. In the fiber-drawing process, the core is fully melted and the cladding is only just softened. Recent advances on the nanocrystals doped glass fibers including glass core-glass cladding fiber, crystal core-glass cladding fiber, and semiconductor core-glass cladding fiber were reported. In addition, the extensive applications of the nanocrystals doped glass fibers in the fields of fiber laser, fiber sensing, frequency conversion, photodetection and thermoelectric conversion were also discussed.

The glass material of low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) has an important influence on the performance of the substrate. In this paper, the properties of the co-fired glass materials used in LTCC were introduced, the influences of component and preparation process on the material properties were summarized, and the existing mature systems were analyzed. The superior dielectric properties of CaO-B₂O₃-SiO₂ glass-ceramic system are due to the presence of the massive crystal phases. However, the components and preparation process fluctuations have a great influence on the properties due to its sensitive sintering and crystallization behavior. The structure of PbO-B₂O₃-SiO₂ glass/ceramic composite system is compact and the glass phase is not easy to crystallize. The material has a table properties and superior mechanical properties. However, its application in a high frequency field is restricted because of the massive leaded glass phases. The crystalline glass and ceramic filler composite can be used in La₂O₃-B₂O₃ glass/ceramic composite system for the performance and stability requirements. The sintering mechanism and performance adjustment laws of LTCC materials still need to be further investigated to support the expansion of existing systems and the development of new systems.

Niobium oxide is widely used in glass field due to its excellent physical and chemical properties. This review summarized the fundamental research results of the application of niobium in glass and glass ceramics. The structure function of niobium oxide in glass is complex, and it mainly acts as glass network intermediate. The addition of niobium oxide into different glass systems have different effects on the network structure, thus affecting the properties of glass. The research work on niobium containing glass and glass ceramics mainly focuses on the optical and electrical properties. Niobium oxide can be used as an important oxide to replace lead oxide in lead-free glasses. Based on the research and application of niobium in glass field, the future development directions were discussed. The structure and dielectric properties of niobate glass ceramics can be improved by adding rare-earth element ions into niobate glass ceramics to adjust the crystal type.

1-3 piezoelectric single crystal composites with relaxor ferroelectric single crystals and composites as ideal piezoelectric elements in high-frequency transmitting transducers possess the superior characteristics including high piezoelectric constants, ultrahigh electromechanical coupling factors, and low acoustic impedance. A high-frequency wideband transmitting transducer based on 1-3 piezoelectric single crystal composite was designed and manufactured. The properties of piezoelectric single crystal composites were analyzed theoretically, and the transducer structure was optimized via simulation by finite element method. The 1-3 piezoelectric single crystal composite transducer produced has a bandwidth of 160 kHz, while the ripple of the transmitting voltage response does not exceed 3 dB in the frequency range from 250 kHz to 410 kHz. The maximum transmitting voltage response is 178.4 dB. The underwater transmitting performances of the single crystal composite transducer are superior to those of the ceramic composite transducer with the same structure and size. Fabricating high-frequency transmitting transducers using 1-3 piezoelectric single crystal composites can broaden the operating bandwith effectively, and improve the ability of acoustic emission underwater.