Infrared transparent glass?

Question

Is there an easy to obtain material thats transparent to infrared? It doesnt matter wheter or not its transparent to visible and uv

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Depends on what you mean by "infrared," as well as what you mean be transparent." There's near-IR (NIR), which goes from about 800nm to 2500nm. Medium wavelength IR (MWIR), going from 3000 to 5000 nm, and Long wavelength IR (LWIR) going from 8000 to 14000 nm.

If by transparent, you mean transmissive, then fine, otherwise you'll need to clarify.

NIR is transmitted by almost all silica-based glasses as well as a vvariety of plastics and polycarbonates. In fact, typical PCs used in sunglasses are actually more transmissive in NIR than the visible.

MWIR can be transmitted by sapphire, diamond, silicon, germanium, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide, magnesium fluoride, and some others I can't remember

LWIR can be transmitted by germanium, silicon, zinc selenide and some plastics.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

is great thanks

Answer 2

Hi. If you are OK with selenide : http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5846889…

Answer 3

Some 4 x 5" film plastic holders may or may not be transparent to IR. Check and see.

Source(s):

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/ir.htm

Answer 4

You can buy cold mirrors which are specifically desgned to transmit infrared and reflect visible light. Most ordinary glass transmits near infrared (~ 1um) very well. If you are talking about far infrared (>10um) it will require special materials. In the far IR germanium is sometimes used.

Answer 5

You will find that rigid vinyl, polycarbonate and acrylic are all transparent to near infrared.

Answer 6

Schott makes a variety of infrared transmitting glasses that are black in the visible. Look for RG series filter glass. They have numbers like RG830, where 830 is the cutoff wavelength. But if you don't care about visible light, most common glasses have fair transmission well into the infrared.

Source(s):

http://www.newportglass.com/schott.htm