Steven D. Bernstein

Optical properties of ALON (aluminum oxynitride)

Aluminum oxynitride or ALON is a transparent polycrystalline ceramic material having high strength (380 MPa) and hardness (1950 kg/mm2). The transmission range of ALON extends from 0.2 micrometer in the UV through the visible to 6.0 micrometer in the infrared. This material is made by conventional powder processing and sintering a powder compact to full density and optical transparency. Powder compacts of near net shape and size are made by conventional dry pressing, by slip casting, and by injection molding methods. This gives the material great latitude in size and shape capabilities not afforded by materials formed by single crystal growth methods. Intrinsic transparency extending from ultraviolet wavelengths (UV) to mid-infrared wavelengths (MID-IR) and low levels of optical scatter have been achieved. In this paper recent measurements of the spectral dependence of forward optical scatter, the spectral emittance from room temperature to 1200 degrees Celsius, and the index of refraction (n) of ALON are presented. Literature values for the changes in refractive index with temperature (dn/dT) are compared.