Custom Sapphire optical windows
Sapphire optical windows prove to be optimal for applications where factors such as high pressure, vacuum conditions, or corrosive atmospheres come into play. In challenging environments, sapphire windows outperform all other optical materials, establishing a superior barrier against the elements. When confronted with harsh environmental conditions, these windows are essential for delivering heightened levels of performance and reliability.
At HY, we specialize in crafting various sapphire optical windows tailored to unique requirements and specifications. Our years of expertise in sapphire optical window production allow us to offer options with precision-polished surfaces, maintaining high surface accuracy and parallelism.
HY boasts extensive experience in the production of customized sapphire windows, providing options with C plane (C Axis), R plane (R Axis), and A plane (A Axis) cutting.
Through our advanced sapphire window polishing processes, we achieve high-precision optical flatness, a surface finish with minimal scatter, and the absence of surface and subsurface damage.
Why do sapphire windows have such high performance?
Sapphire windows and flat stock are incredibly hard, strong, and wear-resistant. Sapphire optical windows exhibit remarkable resilience against harsh abrasives such as sand and particulate matter, ensuring minimal impact on clarity.
This characteristic makes sapphire crystal windows the preferred choice for diverse applications, including aerospace windows, vision systems for downhole drilling, inspection windows, watch crystals, and gun sights.
In environments with intense pressure, sapphire glass windows outperform other transparent materials, making them the top choice for high-pressure vessels, deep-sea windows, and sight glasses.
The exceptional thermal and chemical properties of sapphire further enhance its suitability for transparent applications in pressurized in-process systems, deep-sea exploration, and equipment sensors.
For applications where wear poses a challenge, sapphire glass is invaluable. Utilized in canning machines, slide plates, V-blocks, flat bearings, and pushers, sapphire flats, and blocks significantly extend equipment lifespan, reducing downtime effectively.
Typical applications of custom sapphire optical windows
The substrate of the sapphire optical window consists of synthetic sapphire crystal (Al2O3). Synthetic sapphire, a crystal ranking second only to diamonds in hardness, manifests as a single-crystal form of pure and transparent Al2O3. Its exceptional mechanical, optical, physical, and chemical properties position sapphire as an ideal material for designing and implementing high-performance systems. In comparison to other optical materials, sapphire stands out as the optimal choice for a broad spectrum of demanding environmental applications.
1. Aerospace: Sapphire windows find extensive use in aerospace equipment and instruments owing to their impeccable durability, corrosion resistance, high-temperature resistance, and broad spectral transmission range.
2. Sapphire flash lamps: Renowned for high-temperature resistance and low thermal expansion, sapphire serves as a protective window for robust lamps and flashlights, ensuring scratch resistance and preventing bursting.
3. Analytical instruments applications: In scenarios where the analyzed gas or liquid is highly corrosive, sapphire windows prove invaluable due to their corrosion-resistant properties. Moreover, their excellent transmittance across a wide spectrum from ultraviolet to infrared makes them widely applicable in analytical instruments.
4. Medical equipment applications: The outstanding durability of sapphire windows renders them indispensable in various medical applications, including laser medical instruments, laser beauty instruments, and endoscopes.
5. Optical applications: With the extensive spectral range of sapphire crystals, sapphire windows can be employed in a myriad of optical applications, spanning from ultraviolet to infrared. Their mechanical and physical properties confer an advantage over optical windows made from alternative materials.
6. Illumination applications: The heat resistance of sapphire windows makes them ideal for use as protective materials in high-brightness lighting applications.
7. Watches and industrial instruments: Sapphire windows serve as protective covers for watches or gauges, offering resistance to scratches, robustness, and a guarantee against bursting.
Sapphire windows are extremely strong in extreme temperatures and have incredible chemical and plasma resistance
A supported sapphire glass window maintains its shape even at temperatures as high as 1950°C, with minimal reduction in mechanical performance. This makes sapphire windows the ideal choice for applications in high-temperature combustion chambers, gas processing, and lamp shields.
Sapphire crystal windows prove to be excellent for use in boats, and standoffs within high-temperature furnace systems. These flats retain their flatness and remain dimensionally “perfect” up to 1700°C. Thanks to sapphire’s exceptional chemical resistance, many substances do not adhere to sapphire windows, even under high temperatures.
Both sapphire windows and flats boast the highest temperature rating among all optical materials, whether in oxidizing or inert atmospheres.
In comparison to the closest competitor material, fused silica, sapphire optics windows can withstand significantly higher temperatures without any degradation. Fused silica, on the other hand, undergoes degradation and devitrification over time at temperatures almost half the maximum operating temperature of sapphire.
The light transmission properties of sapphire windows are pretty good
As an ideal material for UV and IR applications, a sapphire optical window stands out for its ability to transmit extensively into both UV and IR bands. Its thermal and chemical resilience allows it to withstand extreme plasmas and temperatures, surpassing the capabilities of other materials. Even under such conditions, a sapphire window continues to transmit high-powered UV, visible, and IR light for extended periods without any degradation.
These unique properties position sapphire windows as the preferred material for UV/VIS/IR sensors, IR surveillance, reconnaissance, and broadband inspection equipment, especially in scenarios involving abrasives.
Sapphire windows emerge as the top choice for pyrometry, offering wide wavelength transmission while effectively isolating hot zones up to 2000°C from external room temperature observation. This makes sapphire windows the perfect sight window for furnaces and high-temperature processing equipment.
In the realm of medical and dental tools requiring UV sterilization, curing, and IR thermal processing, sapphire windows, and transparent tools shine in their performance.
Custom Sapphire Optical Parts Service With Easy
HY is a leading custom sapphire glass parts manufacturer specializing in the production of custom sapphire crystal parts. Our comprehensive solutions for custom sapphire optical parts fabrication encompass shaping, grinding, drilling, and polishing. Additionally, we offer coating solutions tailored to enhance and optimize performance across a wide spectrum of applications.
Backed by over 12 years of diverse experience, HY offers effective methods for polishing custom sapphire parts, ensuring low roughness, high surface quality, and precise surface accuracy.
We provide an extensive variety of custom sapphire optical parts, ranging from round and rectangular shapes to step configurations. Furthermore, we excel in crafting custom sapphire optics parts with diverse shapes and sizes, catering to specific requirements.
In HY, we turn complex to simple, following the 3 steps to start your custom sapphire optical parts project today:
1. Please Tell Us What You Need
Please tell us your specific needs, send a 2D 3D design drawing, details size, or a picture.
2. Get Solution & Quote
We will work on the best solution according to your requirements. The specific and best quotation will be sent within 24 hours.
3. Mass Production & Shipping
We will start mass production after getting your approval and deposit. Then we will handle the shipping for you. We are a one-stop custom sapphire optics parts solution manufacturer. You don’t need to worry about anything.
Sapphire Properties Reference Table
Artificial sapphire is a crystalline variant of corundum, also known as pure, single-crystal aluminum oxide (Al2O3). The distinct blend of its properties positions sapphire as the material of choice for demanding applications in mechanical, chemical, and optical fields. Below are the key features of sapphire glass.
- Chemical Formula:
- Names:
- Hardness:
- Class:
- Melting Point:
- Maximum Useful Temperature:
- Surface Quality:
- Axis Orientation:
- Young's Modulus:
- Tensile Strength:
- Flexural Strength:
- Modulus of Rigidity:
- Density (g/cm3):
- Transmission Range:
- Poisson's Ratio:
- Abbe Number (vd):
- Dimension Tolerance:
- Thickness Tolerance:
- Al2O3 (aluminum oxide)
- Corundum, Sapphire, Alpha-alumina
- 9 Moh's
- Hexagonal-scalenohedral
- 2053°C (3727°F)
- 2000°C
- 80/50, 60/40, 40/20, 20/10 (Scratch/Dig)
- C-Axis (C-Plane), M-Plane, A-Plane, R-Plane and Random
- 435
- 275 MPa to 400 MPa
- 480 MPa to 895 MPa
- 175 GPa
- 3.97
- 190nm to 5 microns
- 0.27 - 0.30
- 72.24
- ± 0.01-0.10mm
- ± 0.10mm
Get Your Custom Sapphire Project Into Production Today
HY is a reliable and high-quality custom sapphire glass parts manufacturer that provides precision custom sapphire parts. Our custom sapphire glass parts including sapphire tubes, sapphire lenses, sapphire rods, sapphire IPL light guides, micro sapphire rods, sapphire T-step windows, sapphire tapered rods, sapphire cones, sapphire wedges, sapphire optical prisms, sapphire substrate, sapphire watch glass, sapphire watch lens, sapphire single dome, sapphire double dome, ruby rod, ruby windows, ruby lens and so on. Competitive prices save you 20-60% purchasing cost. Contact us to get a free quote now.