Quartz Glass
Synthetic Fused Silica with UV-Quality for Optics
Special Properties
- Excellent ultraviolet light transmittance
- Extremely temperature resistant 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
- Outstanding electrical properties
- Produced by melting the purest ingredients
Typical Applications
- UV-transparent quartz glass optics
- Deep-UV applications (DUV)
- Quartz glass wafers for semiconductor applications
- Substrate glasses for mirror coatings
- Quartz components for ultraviolet lasers
- UV-measuring instruments
- Flame observation
- Quartz microscope slides and coverslips for medical applications
- Industrial quartz glass components
- High-temperature applications with optical requirements
- Chemically resistant glass parts
- Space applications
Get a price quote for
Quartz Glass
48-hour express-service possible*
Optical Quartz Glass is Synthetic Fused Silica
Quartz glass used for optics is made of high purity synthetic quartz. This type of material is also known as "Fused Silica". The crystal clear amorphous silicon dioxide material contains only silicon and oxygen and almost no impurities. Only these unique quartz glass grades offer an excellent transmission for deep UV-light, which is already well over 80% at wavelengths of 185 nm.
The enormous operating temperature range and the thermal load capacity of quartz glass are unparalleled. It can operate permanently at up to 1000 °C and is highly resistant to thermal shock. These outstanding properties are possible due to the low thermal expansion of quartz glass.
As well, the chemical strength of this unique material is remarkable. Quartz glass is particularly resistant to saline solutions, acids, and water. The chemical resistance of quartz glass to bases surpasses almost all other glass materials.
Excellent electrical properties make quartz glass an ideal material for applications in semiconductor technology. Currents can only flow through moving ionic impurities, and such contamination is marginal in quartz glass. Therefore it has minimal conductivity and offers a very high electrical insulation resistance, an essential requirement to be used in electronics and semiconductor applications.
Quartz Glass Optics
We fabricate custom optics of quartz glass mainly from large blocks, the so-called boules. If necessary, the raw glass materials can be selected and specified for low amounts of inclusions and bubbles. You can choose the index homogeneity down to ≤ 0,5 ppm. The first step in producing an optic from a quartz glass boule is cutting the required material from the quartz 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 quartz parts like substrate glasses, quartz glass wafers, microscope slides, laser components, and many other quartz glass items every day.
Get a 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
Glass thicknesses
As optical quartz glass is a block glass, there are no standard thicknesses. Consequently, the glass thickness must always be specified individually. To offer our customers high availability and the best possible service, we continually grind and polish to the following quartz glass thicknesses, which are available quickly. You can even order these within our 48-hour express-service:
Please click on a glass thickness to request:
Thickness (mm) |
Tolerance |
|
|---|---|---|
| 0,50 | ±0,050 | ✔ |
| 1,00 | ±0,100 | ✔ |
| 2,00 | ±0,150 | ✔ |
| 3,00 | ±0,100 | ✔ |
| Please request other thicknesses individually. | ||
| *Thicknesses marked with "✔" are available in 48-hour express-service. | ||
Ultraviolet Transmission Properties
- T > 80% at 185 nm
(Only UV-grade quartz material = fused silica) - Curves of non-UV-quartz glass per inquiry
Refractive Index
- nd = 1,4585 (Fused Silica)
Density
- 2,20 g/cm3
Young's Modulus
- 74 GPa (typical value)
Homogeneity
- Homogeneity grades per inquiry
- Index homogeneities of UV-quartz glass materials down to ≤ 0,5 ppm are possible on demand.
Inclusion Classes
- Inclusion grades per request
Glass Composition
- Silicon dioxide (SiO2)
Average Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
- Approximately 0,57 x 10-6/K
Viscosity
- Softening point approximately 1585 °C
- Annealing point approximately 1042 °C
- Strain point approximately 893 °C
Dielectric Constant
- εr: 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 that only require sight glass functionality. Since the inner material quality and the DUV transparency are of secondary concern in those cases, we can use the less expensive "Fused Quartz" for the fabrication of such items. Unlike Fused Silica, these quartz glass grades are made by melting natural quartz crystals instead of high purity synthetic quartz material. Hence, these materials contain more contaminants and don't offer the high material quality and homogeneity as Fused Silica. They are typically used for less demanding applications.
Nevertheless, they have an almost identical coefficient of expansion, a similar high-temperature resistance, and nearly the same thermal shock resistance. Fused quartz also features virtually the same chemical strength as Fused Silica. It offers better UV-transparency than most other glass types and the crystal clear appearance as optical grade quartz glass.
Fused quartz glass is significantly more economical than the High-End types of quartz glass. Hence, they are the best 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" 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 specifications and properties of the full range of quartz glass qualities we process.
All given details and specifications are mean reference values and are not guaranteed. Also, please consider the "Notes on technical specifications".
© 1994 - 2020 Präzisions Glas & Optik GmbH
Last update 22.09.2020