Sapphire Optics
Sapphire Windows, featuring reliable mechanical/thermal/chemical robustness, large dielectric constants, and broad optical transmission from 200-5500nm, are excellent as both optical windows and protective windows in application contexts of more stringent requirements and extreme conditions.
The most distinctive feature of the sapphire is its unrivaled mechanical hardness and ruggedness. The Mohs Hardness of Sapphire is 9, and it is the second hardest material that existed, ranking next to diamond. Sapphire windows are therefore resistant to scratches and injuries resulting from external environments (e.g. rain, brine, grit, etc.). Due to the firm internal covalent bonding of sapphire, windows made from sapphire could be manufactured into much thinner pieces without fracture than the counterparts made from other dielectric materials, and capable of withstanding high pressure. Furthermore, sapphire is high-temperature-tolerable with a working temperature limit of up to 2030°C and fine thermal conduction properties. Other advantages of sapphire windows include chemical inertia to acids/alkalines and a broad multi-spectrum transmission wavelength range.
Shalom EO offers various forms of Sapphire Windows made of KY-Grown Single Crystal Sapphire. Large aperture sapphire windows with diameters up to 300mm are available, and surface qualities of 60/40, 40/20, 20/10, and 10/5 Scratch/Dig are optional upon request. We are also capable of providing high-precision ultra-thin sapphire windows with a large diameter-to-thickness ratio. Ar-coated sapphire windows, Z-cut/C-cut sapphire windows with the c-axis parallel to the optical axis to avoid birefringence in critical optical uses, and random-cut sapphire windows are all procurable. We offer flat sapphire windows (circular, rectangular), sapphire wedge windows, sapphire step windows, sapphire protective windows used in laser processing, vacuum chambers, plasma chambers, deepwater sapphire windows, and pressure-resistant sapphire windows. Besides, Shalom EO also supplies metalized sapphire windows with nickel, chrome, and gold films on the window edges to enable direct soldering and brazing into your optomechanical assemblies.