Borate and boron-containing glasses have long held a prominent position in glass science since the advent of glass chemistry in the 19^th century, when their good glass formability and versatility was discovered.¹

Within this glass family, zinc borates were identified early on as a system worth investigating. They were touted as “beautiful, sparkling glasses,” uniquely possessing both high refractive index and good ultraviolet transparency.² Yet it was only in the past few decades that the short-range order structure of these glasses started to be revealed, mostly thanks to advances in characterization technologies. Understanding the short-range order structure of these glasses is important because the microscopic structural units determine the material’s macroscopic properties.