Learn about sapphire and its applications
Sapphire, or aluminum oxide diamond, is a common gemstone material that possesses a high degree of optical transparency and excellent physicochemical properties, and therefore has been widely studied and applied to optical devices, laser technology, microelectronics, and other fields in recent years.
KNOW ABOUT SAPPHIRE GLASS
Welded Pipe Making Machine Production Line, or aluminum oxide diamond, is a common gemstone material that possesses a high degree of optical transparency and excellent physicochemical properties and therefore has been widely studied and applied to optical devices, laser technology, microelectronics, and other fields in recent years.
Sapphire material is a material with a special crystal structure, and its crystal constants are very close to those of diamond, so it has extremely high hardness and high-temperature resistance, and can also maintain stability at high temperatures or in strong acid and alkali environments. Due to the good optical quality, high transmittance, low refractive index, and small temperature coefficient of sapphire material, it has a good application prospect in the field of optical devices, laser technology, microelectronics, and so on.
Sapphire's chemical molecular formula is AL2O3, and its hardness of 9 places it second on the classic mineral hardness scale. The sapphire crystals produced by crystal growth technology are usually not very large; thus, they can be used in some microdevices, such as the manufacture of MEMS devices and deep-ultraviolet LEDs.In addition, sapphire crystals are relatively resistant to a variety of harsh environments, such as strong acids, high temperatures, high pressures, and vacuums.
-Optical properties of sapphire
Sapphire has a very high degree of transparency, typically in the UV (ultraviolet) to IR (infrared) wavelength range, and is characterized by very high and consistent transparency with low reflectivity. This transparency and ability to reflect light is widely utilized in optical components such as optical lenses. They are also used in lasers and LED devices.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SAPPHIRE GLASS
Advantages of sapphire glass
-Although sapphire is blue, sapphire glass is highly transparent to light wavelengths between 150 nanometers and 5,500 nanometers. This range provides the material with a wide optical transmission band from ultraviolet to near-infrared light.
-Sapphires are not only hard, they're strong. Due to its similarity to natural sapphire, it has a compressive strength of 2,000 MPa. This makes this material about 10 times stronger than stainless steel.
-Another advantage of sapphire glass is its shock resistance. Sapphire has a high melting point of up to 2030 degrees Celsius.
Disadvantages of sapphire glass
One of the drawbacks of sapphire glass is its durability. While it is highly resistant to scratches, it still cracks and breaks easily. The durability of glass and other glazing materials depends on a scale: hard materials are more resistant to scratching but less resistant to cracking, and soft materials are more resistant to cracking but less resistant to scratching. Essentially, hard materials are more brittle.
APPLICATION OF SAPPHIRE GLASS
1. Sapphire Laser
The sapphire material is birefringent and has high optical quality, a special crystal structure, etc. It outputs nearly 100% linearly polarized light and is capable of providing high power output. Sapphire lasers can be used in areas such as laser therapy in the medical field and the detection of UV radiation in metal and plastic parts.
2. Sapphire Lenses
Due to the high transmittance and relatively inherent physicochemical properties of sapphire, sapphire lenses have good application prospects in the fields of ultraviolet imaging and optical measurement. Since sapphire is capable of separating light into linearly polarized light and non-linearly polarized light, this property is widely utilized in optical sensors, wireless charge radar devices, and other fields.
3. Sapphire Silicon Products
A wide variety of silicon products, including wear-resistant devices, axle shims, bearings, high-performance shuttle blocks, and various sliding parts, utilize Sapphire's excellent hardness and high-temperature compression resistance.
In summary, sapphire materials have a wide range of applications in optical devices, laser technology, microelectronics, and other fields.
RZ Optics Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer of optical components, and main products including optical lenses, spherical lenses, optical domes, optical windows, filters, etc. We use optical materials such as optical glass, fused silica, sapphire, infrared materials, and so on. We also could provide OEM service for our customers.
Please contact us free time if you have any questions.