Recent developments in transparent spinel ceramic and composite windows

Shyam Bayya; Guillermo Villalobos; Woohong Kim; Jas Sanghera; Geoff Chin; Michael Hunt; Bryan Sadowski; Fritz Miklos; Ishwar Aggarwal

doi:10.1117/12.2024111

30 September 2013 Recent developments in transparent spinel ceramic and composite windows

Shyam Bayya, Guillermo Villalobos, Woohong Kim, Jas Sanghera, Geoff Chin, Michael Hunt, Bryan Sadowski, Fritz Miklos, Ishwar Aggarwal

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8837, Material Technologies and Applications to Optics, Structures, Components, and Sub-Systems; 88370V (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2024111
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory has pioneered the development of sintering processes for making highly transparent optical ceramics. For example, we have demonstrated the fabrication of record low absorption loss spinel as an exit window for High Energy Laser systems and rare earth doped Y₂O₃ and Lu₂O₃ for solid-state ceramic lasers. We have also developed thick spinel windows for submarine photonic masts and predicted the performance of an imaging system using testing and modeling. More recently, we have developed a novel approach of hot pressing where a transparent ceramic is produced in the net shape without requiring post polishing. This technology will result in significant cost savings associated with polishing the final optical element. We are also developing motheye structures on spinel surface to provide rugged anti-reflective solutions. We had earlier identified a Barium GalloGermanate (BGG) glass with matching index and expansion coefficient to spinel. We had demonstrated fabrication of a laminated dome for the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) program and the technology was transitioned to industry. We have pushed this technology further by developing a BGG glass – spinel ceramic transparent micro-composite, which can be processed well below spinel sintering temperatures. To address the relatively lower strength of BGG glass compared with spinel, we developed an ion-exchange process and achieved strengths up to 450 MPa. This paper gives a summary of our recent findings.

Citation Download Citation

Shyam Bayya, Guillermo Villalobos, Woohong Kim, Jas Sanghera, Geoff Chin, Michael Hunt, Bryan Sadowski, Fritz Miklos, and Ishwar Aggarwal "Recent developments in transparent spinel ceramic and composite windows", Proc. SPIE 8837, Material Technologies and Applications to Optics, Structures, Components, and Sub-Systems, 88370V (30 September 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2024111

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