The 20SW8-180 is a Sapphire Window, 50.80 mm in diameter and 2.00 mm thick. Sapphire windows are ideal for applications where high pressure, vacuum, or corrosive atmospheres are a consideration. The raw material has negligible lattice distortion and is oriented with the optical axis normal to the faces to minimize the inherent birefringent properties of single crystal sapphire.
Handles High Temperatures and Pressures
Sapphire windows are highly tolerant of extreme temperature and pressure differences. These windows are commonly used as viewports enable viewing inside of vacuum chambers, or chambers containing high temperature plasma.
Wide Transmittance Range
Uncoated Sapphire is transparent across a wide wavelength range from 170 nm to 5.5 µm.
Unique Sapphire Material Properties
Sapphire is a single crystal form of Al2O3, with a favorable combination of chemical, mechanical and optical properties. Sapphire is resistant to attack by strong acids, enabling use in a corrosive atmosphere. It is resistant to scratch and abrasion with very high Knoop hardness of 1800 parallel to the optic axis (C-axis), 2200 perpendicular to the optic axis. The SAW series sapphire windows are provided with a random axis orientation. As sapphire is slightly birefringent, this may result in slight alteration of the polarization state of transmitted light.