Infrared-transmitting materials, properties

Table 16.6 hsts the properties of several infrared transmitting materials. The short pathlengths required in infrared spectrometry are difficult to reproduce, especially when the windows must be repolished, and so quantitative analysis is not... 

Given these special properties, this high-performance material has been successfully used for a variety of applications such as telescope mirror blanks in precision optics and infrared-transmitting range tops (Section 4.3.1). This glass-ceramic has also been successfiilly mass produced for household applications such as cookware and woodstove windows (Section 4.2). 

S. S. Ballard and J. S. Browder, Thermal Expansion and Other Physical Properties of the Newer Infrared-Transmitting Optical Materials, Appl Opt. 5 1873 (1966). 

To illustrate diffusion, B-site cation movement into lithium niobate, LiNbOj, is described. This material has important optical properties (Chapter 9) and is employed in optical amplifiers, lasers and waveguides. However, the lithium niobate crystals suffer from optical damage when transmitting visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It has been found that B-site doping of surface layers can effectively reduce such damage, and there have been numerous studies on the diffusion of suitable cations such as TT", Zr, Er and Tm, either in isolation or as co-diffusants, into crystals of LiNbOj. 

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