Quartz Glass
Quartz glass is a totally pure material that looks exactly the same as standard glass but has many different properties. It is made only from silicon dioxide, and has an amorphous structure rather than a crystalline structure. The purity of quartz glass is unusual because standard glass is generally made from a mixture of elements and materials. It exhibits high temperature resistance, and is able to withstand quickly changing temperatures. It is also transparent to UV radiation. Quartz glass has many different uses within the fiber optics, metrology and communication technology industries. Windows, lenses, mirror substrates, trays, boats and UV lamps are all made from quartz glass, as well as advanced technologies including chip production, optical data transmission and laser technology.
Produced from pure silicon compounds during a chemical reaction that takes place in the vaporization phase, quartz glass is one of the purest materials used in industrial applications today. Many of its properties stand alone, with operating temperatures up to 2192 degrees F, which is 4 times higher than standard glass, and a thermal coefficient of expansion 20 times lower than steel. It exhibits great optical permeability-when looking through a pane of quartz glass 10 meters thick, it looks the same as a normal window pane. This type of glass doesn't change color under radiation, has low optical absorption, exhibits high resistance to laser radiation, good elasticity, high form stability, low material fatigue and high chemical and electrical resistance.