Cal44
Member
In one of the Star Trek movies, I think it's the one with the Whales from 1986, Scottie needs to build a tank to contain the Whale aboard the star ship.
He goes back in time into a 20 century fabrication shop, and asks if he can buy some transparent Aluminum.
They look at him like he is nuts. So he finds a Macintosh computer on someones desk, and tries to talk into the mouse asking about transparent Aluminum. Then he realizes just how primitive things are.
Well it turns out that now, 30 years later, there really is transparent Aluminum available.
And I asked my smart phone about it and got some interesting info.
It's call Aluminum oxynitride.
Here is info about it from Wiki:
"Aluminium oxynitride or AlON is a ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. It is marketed under the name ALON by Surmet Corporation.[3] AlON is optically transparent (≥80%) in the near-ultraviolet, visible and midwave-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is 4 times harder than fused silica glass, 85% as hard as sapphire, and nearly 15% harder than magnesium aluminate spinel. Since it has a cubic spinel structure, it can be fabricated to transparent windows, plates, domes, rods, tubes and other forms using conventional ceramic powder processing techniques. AlON is the hardest polycrystalline transparent ceramic available commercially.[2] Combination of optical and mechanical properties makes this material a leading candidate for lightweight high-performance transparent armor applications such as bulletproof and blast-resistant windows and for many military infrared optics. AlON-based armor has been shown to stop multiple armor-piercing projectiles of up to 50 cal.[4] It is commercially available in sizes as big as 18x35-inch monolithic windows."
Technology marches on.
Here is info about Surmet Corp.
About Surmet
He goes back in time into a 20 century fabrication shop, and asks if he can buy some transparent Aluminum.
They look at him like he is nuts. So he finds a Macintosh computer on someones desk, and tries to talk into the mouse asking about transparent Aluminum. Then he realizes just how primitive things are.
Well it turns out that now, 30 years later, there really is transparent Aluminum available.
And I asked my smart phone about it and got some interesting info.
It's call Aluminum oxynitride.
Here is info about it from Wiki:
"Aluminium oxynitride or AlON is a ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. It is marketed under the name ALON by Surmet Corporation.[3] AlON is optically transparent (≥80%) in the near-ultraviolet, visible and midwave-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is 4 times harder than fused silica glass, 85% as hard as sapphire, and nearly 15% harder than magnesium aluminate spinel. Since it has a cubic spinel structure, it can be fabricated to transparent windows, plates, domes, rods, tubes and other forms using conventional ceramic powder processing techniques. AlON is the hardest polycrystalline transparent ceramic available commercially.[2] Combination of optical and mechanical properties makes this material a leading candidate for lightweight high-performance transparent armor applications such as bulletproof and blast-resistant windows and for many military infrared optics. AlON-based armor has been shown to stop multiple armor-piercing projectiles of up to 50 cal.[4] It is commercially available in sizes as big as 18x35-inch monolithic windows."
Technology marches on.
Here is info about Surmet Corp.
About Surmet
