Multicrystalline Fine Ceramics (also referred to as "advanced ceramics") possess a microstructure of crystal grain boundaries and microscopic pores, which diffuses light and impedes light transmission.
Single-crystal sapphires are clear like glass, because it contains no grain boundaries or pores. Additionally, it boasts significantly enhanced strength and thermal conductivity compared to glass. Consequently, single-crystal sapphire is an outstanding choice for fabricating windows in high power LCD projectors, among various other applications.
Furthermore, semiconductive and dielectric crystals are utilized in products that capitalize on the changes in tone and refraction of light arising from the interactions between crystals and magnetic fields.
Applications
Optical applications for Fine Ceramic materials include windows for high-power LCD projectors, manufacturing fluorescent lights, developing light sensors, and other similar products.
Description
Optical Properties
Fine Ceramics are composed of microcrystalline particles held together by boundary elements, created through a sintering process. Fine Ceramics can attain translucency through post-sintering processes that reduce pores and boundary elements while enlarging crystal sizes to minimize boundary interfaces.
Certain types of Fine Ceramic crystals contain semiconductive, ferroelectric, and ferromagnetic properties. These demonstrate fluorescence, phosphorescence, color tone, and birefringence variations due to interactions with light and electric/magnetic fields.
- Translucency: This is the main characteristic that allows a material to transmit light and is mainly noted among single-crystal materials. Materials that are sintered to achieve high density and purity, along with low levels of birefringence and grain boundaries that scatter light minimally, are the most likely candidates to exhibit translucency.
- Fluorescence/Phosphorescence: Properties that involve absorbing radiated light and emanating light of different wavelengths.
- Acousto-optic effect: A light diffraction effect based on periodic refractive changes induced by acoustic waves.
- Electro-optic effect: An effect that involves changes in the optical properties of a material in response to an electric field.
- Magneto-optical effect: An effect involving changes in a material's refractive index and light-absorption coefficient corresponding to the strength of a magnetic field (also known as the Faraday effect).
- Photochromic effect: An effect that involves changes in color tone resulting from acquired light.
- Laser excitation effect: An effect that involves generating powerful lasers as a result of resonance.
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This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Kyocera International, Inc.
For more information on this source, please visit Kyocera International, Inc.