Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide glass is environmentally friendly, and has wide infrared transmitting window, high optical nonlinearity, as well as good mechanical property. These make it a good material for infrared transmission and nonlinear optics. In optical designs, the refractive index (
n) and thermo-optic coefficient (
ζ) of the glass are key technical parameters. In order to predict and tailor the
nand
ζof Ge-Sb-Se glass, compositions with different chemical and topological features are prepared, their
n,
ζ, density (
d) and volume expansion coefficient (
β) are measured, and the composition dependence of the parameters is systematically investigated. The chemical feature of the glass is quantified by the percentage deviation of the composition from the stoichiometric ratio and denoted as
dSe. The topological feature is represented by the mean coordination number <
r> of each atom in the composition. It is shown that the
nof Ge-Sb-Se glass increases with
dincreasing; the
ζdecreases almost linearly with
βincreasing; and the
βdecreases with
dSedecreasing or <
r> increasing. When the Ge content is fixed, the
dincreases with
dSedecreasing or <
r> increasing; when the Sb concentration is fixed, the
dhas a minimum value at
dSe=0. Based on the measured
dand
n, the molar refractivity (
R
i) of Ge, Sb and Se elements in a spectral range of 2-12 μm are calculated. The obtained value of
R
Geis in a range of 10.16-10.50 cm
3/mol,
R
Sdin a range of 16.71-17.08 cm
3/mol, and
R
Sein a range of 11.15-11.21 cm
3/mol. When the
R
iand
dare used to compute
nof any composition, the discrepancy between the calculated value and the measured one is less than 1%. According to the measured
ζand
β, the thermal coefficients of the molar refractivity (
φ
i) of Ge, Sb, and Se elements in a wavelength region of 2-12 μm are computed. The optimal value of
φ
Geis in a range of 21.1-22.6 ppm/K,
φ
Sbin a range of 7.2-8.4 ppm/K, and
φ
Sein a range of 90.2-94.2 ppm/K. When the
φ
iand
βare used to compute
ζof any composition, the discrepancy between the calculated value and the measured value is less than 6 ppm/K.