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It is a form of highly synthetic and pure silicon dioxide. Fused silica comes in non crystalline form and it doesn't have any colour. It is a type of silica glass which has less thermal expansion and high transmission power over variety of spectrums especially in ultraviolet. silica is the only pure silica with around 99.4 - 99.9% of silica present in it. This fused silica is mainly used in industries dealing with electronics and they are made by plasma arc, carbon electrode fusion or gas fired continual extrusion and carbon arc. Because of its high insulating and dielectric properties, almost 70% of the electronics industries use silica in its experiments. Some of them also use fused silica in investment casting or as a refractory material as when kept at high temperatures it has a capability to gain back its strength. Because of insulating and dielectric properties, silica is most widely used in electronic circuits. For various applications, silica comes with different grades. The most important application in which fused silica is used are High Energy Laser Optics where any other optical equipment is nothing compared to the pure silica. Because of its purity and exceptional optical qualities, even if the high energy laser is transmitted it doesn't affect the material much. In the production of prisms, windows and lenses silica is used. Prisms which especially come in the range of 0.16 to 3 vyoms are manufactured using fused silica. Depending on the transmission range, the refractive index may be around 1.55 to 1.40. It has a capability to maintain its strength even at high temperatures and because of this property they are used as a good refractory material. This is mainly because silica has very high melting point, has very high abrasion resistance and low thermal expansion. How fused silica is manufactured? silica can be manufactured with the help of two basic steps: 1. Fused silica is produced by the synthesis process. Here the glass is synthesized from the chemicals. 2. With the help of electrical heating or gas, the silica grains are melted which produces fused silica. Depending on the applications, this mixture may be either opaque or transparent. Advantages:
Different advantages of using silica are as follows: 1. High resistance power to thermal shocks. Even if it is inserted into water directly from red heat, it won't crack. 2. Coefficient value of thermal expansion is very low. 3. High optical transmission power over variety of spectrums especially in ultraviolet. 4. High resistance to chemical substances. 5. Act as great electrical insulation for electrical items and hence it is used in most of the electrical circuits. 6. Less dielectric value and dielectric loss. The applications in which fused silica are used are windows, mirror substrates, boats, trays, crucibles, lenses, IR transmitting optics, UV transmitting optics and metrology components. It is also used as refractory materials due to its high melting point and great resistance to abrasion and low thermal expansion.
Quartz crystal is made up of two of the most abundant compounds on earth. It is also the source of the purist form of silica.
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