Learn about fused silica and its uses

Learn About Fused Silica

Fused silica is a type of high-temperature molten quartz glass that has excellent physical and chemical properties and is used in a wide variety of applications.

Fused quartz, or Fused silica, is an amorphous (glassy) form of silicon oxide (quartz, silica). It is a typical glass with a long-range disordered atomic structure. It provides its high service temperature and low coefficient of thermal expansion through cross-linking of its three-dimensional structure, also known as synthetic fused silica.

 It differs from conventional glass in that it contains no other components, which are usually added to the glass to lower the melting temperature. As a result, fused silica has a high working and melting temperature. Although the terms fused silica and fused quartz are used interchangeably, the optical and thermal properties of fused silica are superior to those of fused silica and other types of glass due to its purity. For these reasons, it is used in applications such as semiconductor manufacturing and laboratory equipment. It has better UV transmittance than other glasses and can therefore be used in the manufacture of lenses and optics for the UV spectrum. The low coefficient of thermal expansion of fused silica makes it a useful material for precision mirror substrates.

Infrared Optical Quartz Glass

Infrared optical materials can be divided into three main categories: crystalline, glass and hot-pressed polycrystalline materials according to their material form, properties, and preparation methods. Infrared optical quartz glass is also an important infrared optical material with several features:

1. Glassy infrared materials are easy to obtain high optical homogeneity and can be used to manufacture large-size optical elements with high optical requirements;

2. glass-like materials do not disintegrate and, therefore, have high mechanical strength, impact strength, and large surface hardness;

3. most glasses are stable to atmospheric action. Third, most glasses are stable to atmospheric action. In addition, the manufacturing and annealing of glass is relatively simple and easy compared to the cultivation and annealing of crystals. As a result, it is inexpensive and easy to produce large, homogeneous optical products of various shapes. Infrared optical glass includes fused silica glass, various silicate infrared glass, germanate glass, calcium aluminate glass, tellurite glass, arsenic-sulfur-smash, arsenic-sulfur-tellurium, germanium-arsenic-smash, silica-arsenic-tellurium, smashed-arsenic, sulfur-arsenic, and other non-oxide system glass, and so on.

4 Common Applications for Quartz Glass：

-Optical Components

Most applications of quartz glass utilize its optical properties because of its wide range of transparency and excellent light transmission, ranging from the ultraviolet to the infrared region. Quartz glass is less susceptible to damage by UV and high-energy radiation. Light can pass through quartz glass in a functionalized light path with little distortion.

Examples of products with optical applications are: prisms, optical lenses, beam splitters, polarizers, optical mirrors, and optical windows.

-Lighting Equipment

High-purity quartz glass is used in a variety of lamps and lighting systems such as mercury, halogen, xenon, and ultraviolet lamps, as well as arc and incandescent lamps that provide a high-temperature light source. These lamps are used in a variety of industries, including sterilization and cleaning equipment for the food and medical industries and exposure equipment for the semiconductor industry.

-Chemical equipment and instruments

Quartz glass material is a good but expensive alternative to other glass types for applications that cannot withstand the high temperatures used for specific purposes because it is chemically inert. Common applications are glassware, plates and tubes.

Fused Silica Applications

1. Optoelectronic field

Fused silica is widely used in the field of optoelectronics due to its high purity and transparency. It can be used in the manufacture of lasers, optical lenses, optical glass, optical fiber, and other devices, and can be used in optical instruments, aerospace, and other fields. Fused silica is an ideal material for the preparation of large-size optical components and has become an important part of modern optical technology.

2. Semiconductor field

Fused silica is used in the semiconductor field, primarily as a substrate for wafer substrates. Fused silica can be used as an alternative to traditional glass or metal wafer substrates in the semiconductor field due to its high purity and thermal stability. Fused silica substrates have virtually no effect on the performance of the transistor during operation, while also reducing the cost of the wafers.

3. Solar Energy Field

Fused silica is also widely used in solar energy. Solar cells are typically manufactured using fused silica substrates containing high-purity silicon. Fused silica has a high surface finish and does not cause damage to the cell. Fused silica is also used in solar collectors, solar mirrors, and solar mirrors.

4. Biomedical Field

Fused silica can also be used in biomedical fields, such as manufacturing biochips and microfluidic chips. Due to the excellent chemical stability and biological inertness of fused silica, it can be applied in living organisms, and it can also effectively reduce detection errors and improve detection accuracy.

In summary, fused silica is a very important and widely used high-tech material. It plays an important role in the fields of optoelectronics, semiconductors, solar energy biomedicine, etc., and more application areas will be explored in the future.

CLZ Optical Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer of optical components, main products including optical domes, spherical lenses, windows, filters, etc. Our products are widely used in various fields, such as aerospace, underwater detectors, infrared imaging, optical communications, laser processing, and so on. We also could provide OEM service, custom for our customers, please contact us free time if you have any needs.