Low Cost Polycrystalline Alumina for Infrared Windows

"Polycrystalline alumina has great potential for providing the same or better aerothermal performance than sapphire yet offers the opportunity for low cost powder based manufacturing. Heretofore, such material was translucent in the visible wavelengths dueto birefringent scattering. This program is aimed at mitigating birefringence, and providing excellent transparency throughout all wavelengths through a unique powder processing approach. Such a material can be fabricated to near net shape by a processcompatible with conventional mass production techniques, offering the potential to markedly lower costs over sapphire domes. Successful completion of this project will result in the development of a low-cost, near-net-shape processing methodology for producing transparent polycrystalline alumina (PCA). The process will be scaleable and will utilize conventional mass productiontechniques. The resulting PCA material will have high transparency over a broad range of wavelengths and high thermal shock resistance. In addition to military markets for infrared windows, transparent PCA has potential commercial application in lightingproducts, watch crystals, and supermarket scanner plates. Also, the processing technology proposed in this Phase I could be applied to other ceramic systems to produce high density, high strength, near net shape components, with complex shapes. CeraNovahas identified a number of markets/applications where th