chalcogenide glass

A type of glass that uses chalcogen (pronounced "kal-ko-gen") elements such as sulfur, selenium and tellurium. It functions like normal glass, but has the unique property of being able to interact with both photons and electrons. Used in lenses, optical fibers, the recording layer in optical discs, it is also used in the bit cell of phase change memory. See phase change disk and phase change memory.