Table I. Families and names of transmissive optical materials
Family Material Other names Symbol




Alkali halides (salts) Sodium chloride rocksalt, halite NaCl
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Potassium chloride sylvite KCl
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Potassium bromide   KBr
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Cesium bromide cæsium bromide CsBr
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Cesium iodide cæsium iodide CsI
       
Metal fluorides Lithium fluoride   LiF
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Magnesium fluoride sellaite, Irtran-1 MgF2
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Calcium fluoride fluorspar, fluorite, Irtran-3 CaF2
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Strontium fluoride   SrF2
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Barium fluoride   BaF2
       
Heavy metal halides Silver chloride cerargyrite, chlorargyrite, hornsilver AgCl
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Silver bromide bromyrite AgBr
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Thallium bromochloride KRS-6, Tl(Br,Cl), TlBr.4Cl.6 KRS-6
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Thallium bromoiodide KRS-5, Tl(Br,I), TlBr.42I.58 KRS-5
       
Metal oxides Magnesium oxide Irtran-5, crystalline magnesia MgO
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Sapphire a -alumina, sapphire, corundum a Al2O3
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Crystal quartz a-quartz, rock crystal, silicon dioxide a SiO2
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Zirconia cubic zirconia (Hf-doped) ZrO2
       
II-VI chalcogenides Zinc sulfide b -ZnS, sphalerite, Irtran-2, Cleartran ZnS
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Zinc selenide Irtran-4 ZnSe
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Cadmium sulfide greenockite CdS
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Cadmium selenide cadmoselite CdSe
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Cadmium telluride Irtran-6 CdTe
       
Groups IV & III-V Diamond (type IIa) C
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Silicon FZ-Si (undoped vacuum-grown float-zone) Si
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Germanium   Ge
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Gallium arsenide   GaAs
       
Glasses Silica glasses fused quartz, vitreous quartz, Vycor vSiO2
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Borosilicate glasses Pyrex, BK-7, LEBG BSCG
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Fluorozirconate glass ZBLAN, HMFG HMFG
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Arsenic trisulfide glass orpiment glass As2S3
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AMTIR-1 glass Ge33As12Se55 chalcogenide AMTIR
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GASIR1 glass Ge22As20Se58 chalcogenide GASIR1
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GASIR2 glass Ge22Sb15Se65 chalcogenide GASIR2
       
Plastics Poly-ethylene (usually, high-density) poly, polythene HDPE
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Poly-methylpentene TPX, PMP TPX
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Polyester PET, PETG, Mylar, Melinex PET
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Poly-tetrafluoroethylene Teflon TFE, PTFE PTFE
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Fluorinated EPC Teflon FEP, TFE/HFP FEPC
Names were selected on the basis of their descriptive value and common use; the names in parenthesis include the commonest tradenames.
Due to space limitations, many material names are vulgar: some "proper" names such as poly-(4-methyl-pent-1-ene) and poly-(ethylene terephthalate) have been truncated, and lengthy designations such as fluorinated ethylene-propylene copolymer and tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer have been omitted.
Symbols are for convenience; they are mostly chemical formulæ but also include some common designators for nonstochiometric materials.
Trademarks include Kodak's Irtran, Amorphous Materials' AMTIR, Umicore's GASIR, CVD's Cleartran, Corning's Pyrex & Vycor, MItsui's TPX, and Dupont's Teflon, Melinex, & Mylar.
These data were collected from a variety of sources, so this table probably contains errors. Use cautiously, and empirically verify critical values.
©2002 by D.W.Vidrine  « Author will not accept responsibility for any harm resulting from the use of this data! »
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