Glass Products

Our extensive knowledge of glass substrates and our expertise in glass properties makes us uniquely qualified to provide the best glass for optimum performance.

Glass selection is the first step in each project. Since each substrate has distinctive qualities, we carefully review the glass products and their respective properties at the onset of each job. We evaluate characteristics such as thermal, optical, chemical, electrical and mechanical to recommend the ideal material for your application.

Abrisa stocks sheet sizes of a wide variety of glass substrates.
For current inventory, please call 805-525-4902.

TYPES OF GLASS

Soda-Lime Glass
This is the standard type of glass available. Most types of soda-lime glass can be heat strengthened, heat tempered, or chemically strengthened, and coatings applied.

  • Clear Soda-lime
  • Patterned: P62, Skytex, Crystal Prismatic, Solite, Industrex
  • Tinted

Borosilicate Glass
Borosilicate Glass all contain Boron as a component material. This type of glass is characterized by its resistance to heat, chemicals and specific coefficients of thermal expansion. The exact composition of each of these glasses differentiates them from one another and determines their best applications.

  • Schott Borofloat®
  • Schott Borofloat® IR
  • Schott AF45
  • Schott D263
  • Corning Eagle 2000
  • Corning Eagle XG
  • Corning 0211 Microsheet
  • Corning® Pyrex 7740

Schott Tubing & Rod
DURAN® is a special borosilicate glass of the first hydrolytic class. Its invention was one of Otto Schott’s great achievements. Laboratory and chemical plant technology would be unthinkable without DURAN® tubing, capillary and rod, which provide the basis for custom-made solutions to specific problems. Abrisa now offers the entire SCHOTT DURAN® tubing product line.

Glass-Ceramics
Glass-Ceramics are ceramics with glass-like properties. They are made in sheets like a ceramic and fired to make them transparent or semi-transparent. They have excellent thermal properties and are used in high heat applications. They also have a very low coefficient of thermal expansion which makes them stable under wide swings of temperature. Abrisa carries several types of glass-ceramics.

  • Schott Robax®
  • Schott Dark Robax®
  • Pyroceram®

Quartz / Fused Silica
Quartz and Fused Silica glasses are virtually identical, but have different methods of manufacture and slightly different material properties. They are used in applications where high ultraviolet light transmission, good thermal stability, or chemical inertness is required.

  • Corning Vycor
  • Corning 7980
  • GE 124

Specialty Glass
Each specialty glass has its own unique properties for distinctive uses.

  • Colored Glass and Dichroic Filters: Used to enhance, color, control lightwaves through glass
  • X-Ray Radiation Lead
  • Superwite B270: Very clear technical and optical glass with good performance for optical uses.
  • Laminated Glass: For safety and durability, two layers of annealed glass are bonded with an interlayer.
  • Patterned Glass

PROPERTIES OF GLASS
Different types of glass possess different qualities depending upon their chemical makeup and how they have been produced. Choosing the right type of glass for your application also means understanding the different physical properties each different type of glass possesses.

Thermal Properties
Glass is measured in a variety of factors which greatly affect your choice of glass. The Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) is the expansion measurement of glass as temperature is raised. This is an important factor to consider when placing the glass in a frame since glass expands much more than most metals and plastics, and may cause breakage upon cooling. The Thermal Conductivity is the ability to conduct heat through the glass or away from a heat/light source. This is important when considering glass as a view port exposed to high temperatures or for high infrared applications. Each type of glass has a Maximum Operating Temperature and Thermal Shock rating. These will guide the choice of glass depending on the amount of heat a glass will withstand, and how it cools after glass is subjected to a rapid change in temperature. Glass may be strengthened to change these thermal properties by Heat Strengthening, Heat Tempering, or Chemical Strengthening.

Optical Properties
There are several important measurements when determining the amount of light passing through glass. The Refractive Index determines how much a light wave is “bent” when entering or leaving the surface of the glass. This is important in producing certain optical devices or effects, such as lenses. The Dispersion measures the separation of light into its component colors, such as a prism dispersing white light into a color band or a rainbow effect. The Transmission measures the amount of light passing through the glass material, and its opposite, Reflectivity which measures the return of light from the surface. The Absorption property is the amount of light energy converted to heat within the glass that is not transmitted nor reflected. Tinted materials will absorb more light than clear materials.

Chemical Properties
All soda-lime type glasses and some borosilicate glasses contain sodium or alkali metal ions. Prolonged exposure to liquids or vapor, such as water, will cause the sodium/alkali ions to migrate to the surface of the glass, called Sodium or Alkali Leaching. This can cause cloudiness or haze on the surface of the glass. Porous coatings may also incur this phenomenon, causing a disruption of the bond between the coating and the glass surface. In high humidity or critical surface applications, this must be considered when specifying the material. Placing a “barrier” coating, such as silicon dioxide, on the glass will limit the amount of reaction. The Acid Resistance and Alkali Resistance measure the time it takes to remove a layer of specified thickness for each test.

Electrical Properties
When choosing a glass for electrical or electronic applications, there are several characteristics to consider. The Volume Resistivity is the resistance in ohms between opposite faces of a centimeter cube of the glass tested. This is important when glass is used as an electrical insulator. The Dielectric Constant of a glass is the ratio of the energy stored in a condenser with the glass as the dielectric, compared with the energy stored by the same condenser with air as the dielectric. This measures the ability of a glass to store electrical energy, and varies with the frequency of the voltage applied to the condenser. This is important when the glass is used as a substrate for electrical or electronic devices. Surface Resistivity is the ratio of the potential gradient parallel to the current along its surface, to the current per unit width of the surface. This method is used to measure the conductivity of coated glasses.

Mechanical Properties
The mechanical properties of a glass determine the amount of stress a glass can withstand. Stress is defined as the perpendicular force per unit area applied to an object, in a way that compresses (compressive stress) or stretches (tensile stress) the object. Strength is the ability of glass to withstand these stresses. Non-strengthened glass materials have relatively low tensile strength yet high compressive strength. Therefore, most glass breakage is due to tensile stress failure. Mechanical properties are measured in a variety of ways: Modulus of Rupture test measures the bending or flexural strength; Shear Modulus measures the amount of shearing or twisting forces a glass can withstand; Knoop Hardness Number (KHN) measures the hardness of glass; Density is the mass value per unit of volume; Specific Gravity is the ratio of the density of the glass to the density of water.

Optical Coatings
Abrisa provides reliable, precision optical coatings for a myriad of industries and countless applications. Our optical coatings include standard, off-the-shelf coatings as well as many unique and custom coating solutions designed to meet the most rigorous customer specifications. For most of our coatings, we can adjust the wavelength region (shorter or longer) to fit the custom requirement. With lean manufacturing processes in place, we can deliver affordable, precision thin film coatings on a wide variety of substrates, from prototype to high volume quantities.

Our optical coatings are applied via electron beam guns or ion-assisted deposition to influence and control reflection, refraction, absorbance, resistance, glare, and electrical activity. We provide high-efficiency coatings for industrial, commercial, and opto-electronic use in a broad variety of applications.

Abrisa provides precision coatings for lenses, filters, prisms, mirrors, and windows. For more information, please call 805-525-4902.

Anti-Reflective
AR coatings are often crucial components in optical systems with multiple lenses or other optics where the maximum possible light energy is needed. AR coatings help to produce brighter images. AR coatings also reduce the intensity of ghost images which are sometimes produced in optical systems by multiple reflecting surfaces.
ZC&R commonly deposits various standard and custom AR coatings. AR coatings are generally separated into two groups. The first group is made of AR coatings that target one or more broad wavelength bands. Our BARC coatings are examples of this group.
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Bandpass Color Filters

Beamsplitters
Beam-Splitter (BS) is a term used to describe various coatings which divide a beam of light into separate beams. Dichroic filters, covered in our Color Filter section, are often called beam-splitters. However, in this section, we will be speaking specifically about beam-splitters that divide light at each wavelength of interest into the two separate beams with an incident angle around 45 degrees from normal.
Dielectric coatings, however, have the advantage of being non-absorbing and so allow for greater throughput of energy. For example, a dielectric coating can be used for a 50/50 beam-splitter coating. Inconel, on the other hand, can yield approximately 30% transmission and 30% reflection due to the absorption inherent in the metal film. Standard dielectric beam-splitter coatings include 30/70, 50/50, and 70/30. However, we would welcome any custom requirements you may have. Please feel free to contact us with your specifications.
Partially transmitting metals make very useful beam-splitter coatings. Two common metals used for this purpose are Inconel and chrome. Metal beamsplitters are often very broad and can cover a much wider spectrum of wavelengths than their dielectric counterparts.
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Cold Mirrors

Color / Temperature Correction
Dichroic color filter coatings are an excellant alternative to dyed plastics and glass. Unlike plastic color gels which age and breakdown relatively quickly during use, dichroic filters are designed to stand up to the heat and UV energy in high energy light sources.
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Contrast-Enhancing Filters

Covert / Semi-Covert Filters

Cut-Off Coatings
Trim filters, also commonly known as cut-off or dichroic filters, are advantageous for a variety of applications. Common uses include optical noise reduction for bar-code readers and wavelength band isolation for fluorescence applications. Trim filters are often used in conjunction with absorptive filter glasses to form band pass filters.
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Dichroics

Fluorescence Filters

Front Surface Mirror

Heat Control
Heat control filters are a special type of dichroic filter used to remove unwanted energy from the light emitted by a source. A common example is the use of hot mirrors in very bright spotlights used in entertainment applications. Heat control filters are able to separate the unwanted infrared, perceived as heat by people, from the visible light desired.
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High Power Lasers

Hot Mirror

IR Coatings

ITO and Index-Matched ITO
Transparent conductive coatings are very often used in electro-magnetic shielding, electrical heating, and cutting edge display applications. ZC&R uses the coating material indium-tin oxide (ITO) which provides for excellent durable coatings
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LuxVu™ (AR / IM-ITO)

Metal Coatings
Metal coatings are often used in systems where a very broadband reflector or beamsplitter is needed. Metal coatings can also be an excellent choice when an economical coating is especially important.
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Neutral Density Filters

Optivex™ UV Blocking Filters

Thin Film Polarizers

Other Coatings
ZC&R maintains an experienced engineering staff that works hand in hand with customers to develop coating solutions. Below are a few example coatings that were designed and developed in cooperation with our customers, taking into account their specific needs and specifications.
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We also provide and coat:
Lenses
Filters
Prisms
Mirrors
Windows