Casting of Halide and Fluoride Alloys for Laser Windows
Abstract
The main objective of this program is to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion casting of alkali halides and alkaline earth fluorides for high power laser window applications. The main effort deals with the fabrication and property evaluation of the alkaline earth fluorides. During the second six months of this program high quality castings of both CaF2 and SrF2 were fabricated. Castings of CaF2 were attempted in an inert atmosphere of purified argon (1-50 torr). Calorimetrically measured 5.25 micrometer bulk absorption coefficients for cast CaF2 are being consistently attained near 0.00042/cm regardless of the starting material. In preliminary results the 5.25 micrometer bulk absorption coefficient of cast SrF2 lies near 0.000067/cm for an ingot using single crystal chips as starting material and lies near 0.00017/cm for an ingot cast from purified 'reagent' grade powder. The preliminary results also show that SrF2 is equivalent in strength to CaF2 and that polycrystalline cast material is equivalent in strength to single crystal material.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 15, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA014864
Entities
People
- J. Pappis
- R. T. Newberg
Organizations
- RTX