Quartz Glass

Special Properties

• Excellent transmission of ultraviolet light
• Extremely heat resistant
• Operating temperature up to 1000 °C
• High thermal shock resistance
• Low coefficient of thermal expansion
• High-purity glass composition
• Very high chemical strength
• Crystal clear appearance
• Low fluorescence
• Excellent electrical properties
• Chemically inert
• Produced by melting the purest quartz raw material

Typical Applications

• UV-transparent quartz glass optics
• Deep-UV applications (DUV)
• Quartz glass wafers for semiconductor technology
• Substrate glasses for High-End mirror coatings
• Quartz optics for ultraviolet laser use
• UV-measuring instruments
• Quartz microscope slides and coverslips for medical applications
• Industrial quartz components
• High-temperature applications with optical requirements
• Optics with high chemical resistance
• Space applications

Get a price quote for
Quartz Glass

48-hour express-service possible*

 

For detailed support and information on selecting the appropriate quartz glass grade for your application, please refer to our Quartz Glass FAQ page.

Optical Quartz Glass is Synthetic Fused Silica

Quartz glass for optics is made of high purity synthetic molten quartz, also known as "Fused Silica". The crystal-clear amorphous silicon dioxide glass material contains only silicon and oxygen and almost no impurities. Only such unique quartz glass grades offer such a high transmission for deep UV-light, which is already well over 80% at a wavelength of 185 nm.

The enormous operating temperature range and the high thermal load capacity of quartz glass are unparalleled. The glass can operate permanently at up to 1000 °C and is highly resistant to thermal shock. These excellent properties are possible due to the low thermal expansion of quartz glass.

As well, the chemical resistance of this unique material is remarkable. Quartz glass is particularly resistant to saline solutions, acids, and water. The chemical strength of quartz glass to bases surpasses almost all other glass materials.

Exceptional electrical properties make quartz glass ideal for applications of semiconductor technology. As currents can only flow through moving ionic impurities, and such contamination is marginal in quartz glass, the material has a low conductivity and a very high electrical insulation resistance. These characteristics are essential for numerous electronics and semiconductor applications.

 

Quartz Glass Optics

We fabricate custom optics of quartz glass mainly from large blocks, the so-called boules. If necessary, we can select the raw glass concerning a low number of inclusions and bubbles. Also, an index homogeneity down to ≤ 0,5 ppm is available if this parameter represents a critical requirement for your application.

The first step to produce an optic from a boule is cutting the required material out of the quartz glass block. After this process, the quartz glass is shaped, finely ground, and polished according to the respective requirements. In this way, our company fabricates UV-transparent substrate glasses, quartz glass wafers, microscope slides, laser components, and many other optical quartz glass items every day.

 

How to get a price quote

To receive a quotation for windows, substrates, or other parts made optical quartz glass for UV-applications with individual dimensions, please select a thickness from the table in the specifications or use the following button.

 

Get a price quote for
Quartz Glass

48-hour express-service possible*

 

Specifications & Properties

Transmittance spectrum of synthetic
Fused Silica in the UV to IR range

Enlarge view and show details

Glass thicknesses

Optical quartz glass is a block glass, so there are no standard thicknesses. Consequently, the glass thickness needs to be specified individually. To offer our customers high availability and the best possible service, we continually grind and polish to the following glass thicknesses, which are available quickly. You can even order these within our 48-hour express-service:
Please click on a glass thickness to start a request:

Glass Thickness (mm)	Tolerance
0,30	±0,050	✔
0,50	±0,050	✔
1,00	±0,100	✔
2,00	±0,150	✔
3,00	±0,100	✔
Please request other thicknesses individually.
*The quartz glass thicknesses marked with "✔" are available in 48-hour express-service.

Light Transmission

• T > 80% at 185 nm
  (UV-grade optical quartz glass material = fused silica)

Refractive Index

• n_d = 1,4585

Density

• 2,20 g/cm³

Young's Modulus

• 74 GPa (typical value)

Homogeneity

• Homogeneity grades per inquiry
• Index homogeneities of the optical UV-grade quartz glass materials down to ≤ 0,5 ppm are possible on demand.

Inclusion Classes

• Inclusion class information on request

Glass Composition

• Silicon dioxide (SiO2)

Average Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

• ≈ 0,57 x 10^-6/K

Viscosity

• Softening point approximately 1585 °C
• Annealing point approximately 1042 °C
• Strain point approximately 893 °C

Dielectric Constant

• ε_r: 3,9 (500 MHz)

 

Fused Quartz Glass for Industrial Sight Glass Applications

Besides the fused silica grades described before, we also process less sophisticated quartz glass materials for high-temperature applications in the industry, requiring only sight glass functionality. Since the inner material quality and the deep-UV transparency are of secondary concern in those cases, the less expensive "Fused Quartz" is the best choice for the fabrication of such items. Unlike fused silica, these quartz glass grades are made by melting natural quartz crystals. Hence, fused quartz is not nearly as pure as fused silica. It contains far more contaminants and can't offer the high material quality, homogeneity, and optical properties of Fused Silica.

Consequently, these quartz glass grades are typically used for less demanding applications. They still have an almost identical coefficient of expansion, a similar high-temperature resistance, and nearly the same thermal shock resistance as the optical quality glass materials. Fused quartz glass also features virtually the same chemical strength as Fused Silica. Fused Quartz still offers a better UV-transparency than most other glass types and the same crystal clear appearance as optical grade quartz glass.

Fused quartz glass is significantly more economical than the High-End types of quartz glass for optics. Hence, this material is the perfect choice for fabricating heat-resistant sight glasses, lamp housings, UV-lighting systems, transparent furnace panes, and other industrial quartz glass parts. You can find further information, specifications, and properties of this quartz glass type in our "Fused Quartz Glass" spec-sheet.

 

Our company processes quartz glass materials from all leading manufacturers in the quartz glass industry (Corning, Heraeus, Tosoh, SCHOTT, Saint Gobain Quartz, Shin-Etsu, GE Quartz, and many others). Please contact us for detailed properties and information about the quartz glass qualities we supply.

 

All given details and specifications are mean reference values and are not guaranteed. Also, please consider the "Notes on technical specifications".

© 1994 - 2021 Präzisions Glas & Optik GmbH

Last update 30.03.2021