Wet-Chemical Production of Calcium Lanthanum Sulfide Powders for Infrared Optics

Calcium lanthanum sulfide (CLS) is a well known ceramic material that can be used in infrared optics for spectroscopy, imaging, and optical components of medical equipment. While CLS is a useful infrared transparent ceramic, the lack of a reproducible and dependable manufacturing process remains a significant hurdle to realizing its full utilization. The poor reproducibility is associated with variability in powder precursors availbe to be formed into parts of interest. To address this need, Luna and our team will develop a continuous flow production method of CLS powder to be used as a precursor for forming components of interest. To ensure CLS powder quality, Luna will leverage principles of Lean – Six Sigma to improve repoducibiltiy, increase yied, reduce cost, and maintain a level of quality that is required to generate uniform components for testing, characterization, and product integration.