Low-cost sapphire windows

Richard L. Gentilman; Patrick Timothy McGuire; Daniel Fiore; Kim Ostreicher; Joel Askinazi

doi:10.1117/12.488241

26 September 2003 Low-cost sapphire windows

Richard L. Gentilman, Patrick Timothy McGuire, Daniel Fiore, Kim Ostreicher, Joel Askinazi

Proceedings Volume 5078, Window and Dome Technologies VIII; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.488241
Event: AeroSense 2003, 2003, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Refractive index matching glass coatings have been applied to mechanically-ground sapphire blanks using a modified glazing technique. The as-fired coatings are optically clear and well adhered, producing coated sapphire windows with up to 88 percent in-line transmittance and excellent optical imaging characteristics. Coated sapphire windows up to 150 x 230 mm in size have been produced, with additional scale-up to at least 300 x 350 mm planned for the near future. Glass-coated sapphire (GCS) can be rapidly polished in a small fraction of the time required for sapphire itself, thereby substantially reducing the cost of transparent armor. Glass-coated sapphire windows are also being evaluated for precision airborne reconnaissance and FLIR systems, to determine the limits, if any, to transmitted wavefront quality. The feasibility of applying index matching glass coatings to sapphire dome shapes has also been demonstrated. Index matching glass has also been used as a bonding material to fabricate actively cooled sapphire windows with internal channels for hypersonic missiles.

Citation Download Citation

Richard L. Gentilman, Patrick Timothy McGuire, Daniel Fiore, Kim Ostreicher, and Joel Askinazi "Low-cost sapphire windows", Proc. SPIE 5078, Window and Dome Technologies VIII, (26 September 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.488241

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available