Sapphire
Synthetic sapphire has a crystalline and not an amorphous structure. The often used designation as "sapphire glass" is therefore misleading and physically incorrect. It is the single crystalline form of corundum, also known as alpha-alumina, alumina or single crystalline Al2O3.
In each case, it is produced by melting the raw material (alumina) and then cooling and solidifying it. The result is an anisotropic, hexagonal-rombohedral single crystal with 3 axes and planes. Although for most applications a random orientation is sufficient for further processing, it must be remembered that the exact behavior of optical components made of sapphire depends strongly on the crystallographic orientation relative to the optical axis (c-axis, 0001).
With a Mohs hardness of 9, sapphire is the fourth hardest of all transparent materials after moissanite, cubic silicon nitride and diamond, and is therefore particularly valued in applications requiring high scratch resistance. In addition, sapphire's melting point of 2050 °C, physical strength, impact and corrosion resistance, inertness, extreme compressive strength, and unusual combination of excellent thermal conductivity and high heat resistance further set it apart from advanced ceramics and glass. Likewise, its optical properties are exceptional: it is transparent at light wavelengths between <200 nm (UV) and 5500 nm (IR).
We supply sapphire in a wide variety of finishes and processing stages. However, always according to customer requirements. Therefore, please do not hesitate to contact us with your requirements. For detailed technical data, please refer to our data sheet.
Fields of application (examples):
Production of semiconductors
substrates, wafers, plasma tubes, chamber windows, lifting pins, gas injectors
Optics
Laser applications; high power optical windows including UV, NIR, IR; NMR spectroscopy; windows, lenses, prisms, blanks
Military / Aerospace
Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) windows, guidance systems, radiometry, missile nose cones, other general aerospace and maritime applications
Industrial
Watch glasses, gas and chemical analysis, thermocouples, isolators for RF and microwave applications, medical instruments and implants, wear parts including rods, bearings, blanks, friction plates
- protective windows / protective glasses
- Light guides e.g. for medical applications
- Wafers 2" - 6" for LEDs
- Lenses for endoscopy
- Protection tubes for thermocouples
- Sight glasses
- Watch glass
- Components in laser technology
- Analysis technology and plasma technology
- Tubes for high pressure sodium lamps
- Wear resistant components
- Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy / NMR spectroscopy
- IR/UV sensors
- Laboratory equipment, laboratory glassware
- Medical instruments
- Implants
