NEW VITREOUS FORM OF SILICA

A NEW FORM OF VITREOUS SILICA, "FUSED CRISTOBALITE," HAS BEEN PRODUCED WHICH IS BELIEVED TO BE A VITREOUS FORM OF THE CRISTOBALITE CRYSTAL PHASE OF SI02 AND NOT THE QUARTZ PHASE. FUSED CRISTOBALITE IS DECIDEDLY DIFFERENT FROM COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED VITREOUS SILICA, HAVING A HIGHER MELTING POINT, HARDNESS AND REFRACTIVE INDEX. MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT HAS EXTENDED INFRARED TRANSPARENCY AND IMPROVED RESISTANCE TO RADIATION DAMAGE. IT IS POSSIBLE THAN FUSED CRISTOBALITE WILL REPLACE CURRENT FORMS OF VITREOUS SILICA IN THE COMMERCIAL MARKETPLACE AS WELL AS OPEN UP NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXTENDED INFRARED MARKETS. IN THIS PROGRAM: 1) WE SHALL MEASURE THE MELTING CONDITIONS OF FUSED CRISTOBALITE BY HIGH-TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL THERMAL ANALYSIS (DTA) AND INVESTIGATE ITS RAMAN SPECTRA IN ORDER TO ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MATERIAL STRUCTURE AND FORMATION CHARACTERISTICS. 2) WE SHALL COMBINE THIS NEW UNDERSTANDING WITH OUR KNOWLEDGE OF CURRENT PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION PROCESSES FOR THIS MATERIAL.