Specifications of Panasonic Silica Aerogels

P-EW has been supplying TMSA blocks to high-energy physics research fields since around 1997. From the experiences of manufacturing and supplying of TMSA, three types of standard specifications whose refractive index is 1.015,1.030, and 1.050 are setup as shown in Table 28.1. SP-30 whose refractive index is 1.03 has the highest transparency ( 92% at 550 nm wavelength), and the values for SP-15 and SP-50 ( 90% and 88%, respectively, at 

550 nm wavelength) are a little lower. A transparency of silica aerogel depends on sizes and concentration of silica nanoparticles and their uniformity. The middle density of SP-30 can show the optimum for their factors for the transparency. The standard size of a block is approximately 110 x 110 x 10 mm. We can usually manufacture 100 TMSA blocks with standard specification in a single batch. If a different size or optical properties are required, it is possible to arrange separately for their specifications such as size, thickness, and refractive index with reliable transparency. 

The works mentioned above were partially supported by a collaborative research program between KEK and P-EW. I am very grateful to F. Takasaki, T. Sumiyoshi, and 

Adachi. I have also referred to a large number of reports describing B-factory experiments which I cannot put on the references list. I am thankful to many researchers who have been concerned in the B-factory project. 

Yokogawa H, Yokoyama M (1995) Hydrophobic silica aerogels. J Non-Cryst Sohds 186 23-29. 

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