Rare-earth-doped transparent glass ceramics

Glass ceramics are a known class of polycrystalline ceramic materials, where, depending on the glass matrix and the particular crystalline phases, one can obtain materials with improved mechanical, thermal, electrical or optical properties. The characteristics and applications of optical glass ceramics are reviewed, with particular emphasis on rare-earth-doped transparent glass ceramics for photonics, including the search for new transparent glass ceramic compositions and the development of suitable methods to process such materials into functional devices.