Optical constants of CRYSTRAN - optical materials
CaF2
Complex refractive index (n+ik)
Derived optical constants
Conditions
orientation: o
Comments
Calcium Fluoride has widespread IR applications as spectroscopic CaF2 windows, CaF2 prisms and CaF2 lenses. Especially pure grades of Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) find useful applications in the UV and as UV Excimer laser windows. Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) is available doped with Europium as a gamma-ray scintillator.
Calcium fluoride (CaF2 or fluorite) is grown by vacuum Stockbarger technique in diameters of up to about 250mm.
Crystal for infrared use is often grown using naturally mined fluorite to reduce costs. It will not have the best transmission in the UV and VUV and can have absorption bands at 300nm due to impurities.
For UV and VUV applications chemically prepared raw material is generally used. For Excimer applications, we use only the highest grade of specially selected material and crystal.
REFERENCES:
(1) Handbook Optical Constants, ed Palik, V2, ISBN 0-12-544422-2
(2) Dressler et al., Cryst.Res.Technol. V27, p413, 1992
(3) I.H.Malitson; J.Opt.Soc.Am. Vol52, p1377, 1962
(4) Ballard et al; Rev. Sci. Instr., V21, p905, 1950 also OSA PUBLISHING
(5) Batchelder & Simmons, J.Chem. Phys. V41, p2324 N8 1964
(6) Schumann & Neumann, Crys. Res. Tech V19, 1984
(7) Dickinson, IR laser windows, AFCRL-TR-0318, Air Force, Cambridge 1975
References
Crystran Ltd.
The Crystran handbook of infra-red and ultra-violet optical materials (5th edition, 2023)
See also
Crystran CaF2 online data sheet
Data
Additional information
Properties of CaF2
density:
-
value: 3180
thermal_dispersion:
-
type: constant
value: -1.06E-5
thermal_expansion:
value: 1.885E-5
hardness:
-
type: Knoop
indenter_mass: 0.5
value: 1550000000
melting_point:
-
value: 1633
thermal_conductivity:
-
value: 9.71
youngs_modulus:
-
value: 75800000000
solubility:
-
value: 0.017