Mirrors
Mirrors are a type of reflective glass that reflect light rays and preserve some or all of the physical characteristics of the original light. Mirrors are used for industrial, commercial, scientific, technical, military, and consumer applications. Mirrors may have flat, concave, or convex reflective surfaces, and they can be manufactured in rectangular, round, spherical, and other shapes. Laser mirrors coated with thin layers of gold, silver, or aluminum on glass can split beams of light and are used with high energy or power and fast lasers, from UV to IR spectral ranges.
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Applications of Mirrors
Mirrors are used in many applications and environments, including:
- Vehicles
- Scientific, Technical, and Optical Labs and Equipment
- Medical Settings
- Commercial and Industrial Settings
Industrial, technical, and scientific mirrors include optical mirrors, laser mirrors, and dichroic mirrors; the latter can reflect one wavelength of light and transmit the rest. Inspection mirrors that can bend or telescope and have joints that can swivel or rotate allow users to see around corners and tight spots. Curved mirrors, such as parabolic reflectors, are used in telescopes. Convex or diverging mirrors are used for safety, in automotive side-view mirrors, hallway mirrors, and on roads and driveways to allow pedestrians and motorists to see around sharp turns and corners. Such mirrors provide a wider range of view than flat mirrors.
Concave or converging mirrors have reflective surfaces that are recessed inward. They are used to focus light inward, as from a wide surface area to a single point. Such mirrors are used in a wide variety of applications, such as in reflecting telescopes, for the purpose of magnifying an image, in solar power applications, and for illumination purposes (e.g., spotlights, flashlights, and headlamps all use concave mirrors to distribute light from a small point or source outward). Concentrated solar power generation systems utilize mirrors or lenses to gather sunlight from a large area and concentrate its energy in a small area. When the energy from sunlight is concentrated, it is converted into solar thermal energy or heat, producing electricity. Currently, photovoltaic cells are used more widely than concentrated solar power or CSP systems, but, in the future, CSP will undoubtedly be used to generate power on a much wider scale.
Manufacturing Process of Mirrors
A variety of ingredients are used to make mirrors, depending on what applications they will be used for. To manufacture the glass used in mirrors, ingredients such as silica or silicon dioxide, often mixed with chemicals including sodium oxide, sodium carbonate, and calcium oxide or lime, are heated and mixed in a furnace, then cooled to a temperature where they can be worked and shaped into different sized products. After the glass substrate of the mirror is made, it is coated with reflective materials, such as silver, gold, or aluminum. Copper is often used to extend the durability of the mirror over time, and the reflective coating on the back of the substrate is often coated with paint to protect it from scratching and other types of damage. Dielectric or Bragg mirrors consist of multiple layers of dielectric material on a glass substrate. These mirrors are used in optical applications, for splitting beams into different wavelengths of light, for laser cavity mirrors, and on mirror shades.