Applied Sapphire Ltd. holds a thorough know-how and experience with production of Sapphire products. The company owns a novel and unique technology of Sapphire growth and finishing enabling fabrication of standard and special products with unusual cost effectiveness.
Sapphire products of our company are utilized for a wide spectrum of high-tech applications.
Sapphire (the word is originated from Hebrew: ספּיר Sapir) is the single-crystal form of alumina oxide (Al2O3), a mineral known as corundum. It can be found naturally as gemstones or manufactured synthetically.
Sapphire upholds a unique combination of physical, chemical and optical properties, making it the optimal choice for a wide range of applications. The outstanding features of the material include:
- High melting temperature: 2,053°C, (Typical melting point of steel is 1,400-1,500°C)
- Sapphire is one of the hardest materials on earth: It measures 9 on the Mohs scale, (Mohs is a system for rating the relative hardness of various materials. Diamond measures 10, the highest rating.)
- High Young’s modulus: 360 – 440 GPa outperforming most metals (Typical Young modulus of steel is 200GPa)
- High Tensile strength: 400 MPa at 25°, 345 MPa at 1000°
- High Compressive strength, 2.0GPa
- Thermal conductivity comparable to metals: 30-45W/(m x°K) at 300°K (Thermal conductivity of steel is 40-45 W/(m x°K))
- High electrical insulation:
- 1016 Wx cm @ 25°
- 1011 Wx cm @ 500°
- 106 Wx cm @ 1000°
- Outstanding Chemical resistance: Sapphire is highly inert and resistant to attack in most process environments including hydrofluoric acid and the fluorine plasma applications commonly found in semiconductor wafer processing (NF3, CF4). Due to its absolute inertness sapphire will not contaminate during processing.
Quartz and polycrystalline alumina and other ceramics are damaged and corroded in similar environments. Sapphire windows and optics remain free of damage.
- Low Coefficient of friction: 0.15 on steel, 0.10 on sapphire
- Exceptional Optical Transparency: Sapphire transmits ultraviolet, visible, infrared and microwaves covering the wave band of 0.20 – 5.5µm. Sapphire upholds durable and reliable IR laser transmission. The infrared ray transmission is hardly influenced by temperature, so the optical components made of sapphire are fully applied to military infrared equipment, low-temperature laboratory viewing aperture, navigation and aviation high precise apparatus, etc.
- Excellent Radiation stability: g (gama) & Proton radiation stability
- EXCELLENT RADIATION STABILITY: (gama) & Proton radiation stability
- EXELLENT CHEMICAL STABILITY, avoing any corrosion
- EXELLENT HARDNESS (second after diamond), avoiding any erosion
- Mechanical properties -A high stiffness (modulus), high strength, provides excellent wear resistance for application environments.
- Strong stiffness enable bear high pressures and keep long life use.
- Optical transmission – combined with the excellent chemical durability, wear resistance, stiffness, and high temperature performance enables sapphire wide use for windows, sensor optics, high performance vacuum systems and other optical applications used in window and optic applications where the process environment would destroy conventional glass or quartz optics.
- Thermal properties – with a melting point over 2000°C, and high thermal conductivity – sapphire is often used in many harsh process environments for a combination of its thermal, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties.
- Wear properties – with high hardness and transparency, sapphire is used for scratch proofing in high wear applications and for precision mechanical components.
- Surface smoothness – sapphire can be polished to very tight flatness and smoothness for substrate applications and precision mechanical components.
Sapphire Typical Applications
Applied Sapphire Ltd. produces and supplies a wide range of Sapphire semi-finished/ blanks and completely finished products. The product line includes standard, as well as custom-made distinctive products produced according to our proprietary technology enabling growth of irregular designs without imposing extra processing steps of cutting and polishing.
- Bullet & Explosion proof windows
- High temperature/ high pressure windows for boilers and reactors
- Sight glasses for high-temperature/pressure furnaces
- Sight glasses for semiconductor production equipment
- Sight glasses for vacuum containers
- Erosion resistance in salt and blowing sand environments, Sapphire is used in conventional windows and dome shapes in replacement of softer, more fragile IR transmitting materials.
- Cooling plates for LCD projectors
- Thermocouple protector plates
- Light guides – Sapphire rods are used in high temperature thermometry beyond the range of quartz optics.
- Sapphire laser caps – window material for airtight packages, which protects semiconductor laser devices from degradation. Sapphire laser caps are used in systems that need high reliability, including submarine optical communications systems.
- FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) windows for sensors and other optics.
- Endoscope lenses.
- Cosmetic surgery lenses
- Lenses
- Optical components: lenses, prisms and other laser and infrared optics.
- Xenon lamp windows
- Mass spectroscopy, ICAP, Sapphire replaces quart ware to improve durability and reduce contamination while offering good UV transmission
- Infra-red permeation windows (gas sensors and fire sensors)
- Insulator plates, tips and rods
- Optical R-processed prisms
- Precision balls for optical and industrial applications, ball lenses
- Barcode scanner wand tip assemblies
- Custom Sapphire rods
- Countermeasures lamps – Sapphire flash lamps are used in IRCM’s (Infra-red countermeasures).
- High class watch glasses
- Surgical Laser tips
- Balls and seats with extraordinary tribology properties
- NMR tubes
- Coin sensors
- Substrates