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Transparent Aluminum Is Here
Alien54 writes "Scientists in the US have developed a novel technique to make bulk quantities of glass from alumina for the first time. (link includes a picture of samples) Anatoly Rosenflanz and colleagues at 3M in Minnesota used a "flame-spray" technique to alloy alumina (aluminium oxide) with rare-earth metal oxides to produce strong glass with good optical properties. The method avoids many of the problems encountered in conventional glass forming and could, say the team, be extended to other oxides (see also: A Rosenflanz et al. 2004 Nature 430 761). Scotty would be pleased."
Yes. It seems that he didn't pollute the time-line after all.
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
The whales will have a safe journey home!
Now I can watch as the food in the fridge turns green... Ye-hah!
Glass breakthrough
11 August 2004
Scientists in the US have developed a novel technique to make bulk quantities of glass from alumina for the first time. Anatoly Rosenflanz and colleagues at 3M in Minnesota used a "flame-spray" technique to alloy alumina (aluminium oxide) with rare-earth metal oxides to produce strong glass with good optical properties. The method avoids many of the problems encountered in conventional glass forming and could, say the team, be extended to other oxides (A Rosenflanz et al. 2004 Nature 430 761).
Glass is formed when a molten material is cooled so quickly that its constituent atoms do not have time to align themselves into an ordered lattice. However, it is difficult to make glasses from most materials because they need to be cooled -- or quenched -- at rates of up to 10 million degrees per second.
Silica is widely used in glass-making because the quenching rates are much lower, but researchers would like to make glass from alumina as well because of its superior mechanical and optical properties. Alumina can form glass if it is alloyed with calcium or rare-earth oxides, but the required quenching rate can be as high as 1000 degrees per second, which makes it difficult to produce bulk quantities.
Rosenflanz and colleagues started by mixing around 80 mole % of powdered alumina with various rare-earth oxide powders -- including lanthanum, gadolinium and yttrium oxides. Next, they fed the powders into a high-temperature hydrogen-oxygen flame to produce molten particles that were then quenched in water. The resulting glass beads, which were less than 140 microns across, were then heat-treated -- or sintered -- at around 1000C. This produced bulk glass samples in which nanocrystalline alumina-rich phases were dispersed throughout a glassy matrix. The new method avoids the need to apply pressures of 1 gigapascal or more, as is required in existing techniques.
Click to enlarge
Aluminate glasses
The 3M scientists characterised the glasses using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis, and tested the strength of the materials with hardness and fracture toughness tests. They found that their samples were much harder than conventional silica-based glasses and were almost as hard as pure polycrystalline alumina.
Moreover, over 95% of the glasses were transparent (see figure) and had attractive optical properties. For example, fully crystallized alumina-rare earth oxide ceramics showed high refractive indices if the grains were kept below a certain size.
Author
Belle Dumé is Science Writer at PhysicsWeb
I am beginning to suspect that the whole idea of sci-fi is in fact a future society time-travelling back every now and then to make a new 'Star Trek' film to nudge society onto a slightly different path
The number of Star-Trek-driven ideas that have become reality is astounding -
Ok, we're missing the big one, warp drive, but apparently we have to have a war that more or less wipes out humanity first, so I'll be happy to give it a miss in my lifetime...
Oh yeah, FOR [insert deity]'s SAKE, STOP THE WHALING!!!
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
who doesn't know the difference between Alumina and Aluminum.
What next, suggesting people use the silicon in their computers as a breast implant?
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
...but I still can't do something primitive like use my mouse to talk to the computer.
Oh who am I kidding, there are already a bunch of them by now...
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Aren't many jewels aluminum compounds?t s/13.html
google search of rubies and aluminum:
http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elemen
Alumina (aluminium oxide) is not the same as aluminium, that's like saying that water ice(hydrogen oxide) is 'Transparent Hydrogen'.
Alumina or corundum as the natural material is known, is found in nature as a clear mineral - different colour variations give you Ruby and Sapphire.
Jolyon
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
As glass itself is technically not a solid but a slow-moving liquid would glass not made from silica have the same general properites as "normal" glass?
I generally think of glass as being very inert for example. Anyone know if this would be the case if the glass was composed of differant substances?
(chemistry maybe?)
Isn't Aluminum a major constituant part of Alumina? (along with Oxygen)... Seams to me that that makes the term 'Transparant Aluminum' valid.
One of the great things about sci-fi as a thematic backdrop (be it literature or movies/tv) is that it alone of all the genres has the possibility of inspiring a tangible effect upon the real world.
I remember an interview with James Doohan where he said his greatest pride that came from his career was that he inspired other people to pursue careers where they could make a difference to the world. How many engineers became engineers or went into sciences because of Star Trek?
I'm familiar with the Arthur C Clarke suggesting satellites; I doubt a similar cause/effect with Star Trek IV happened here. However, the similarities are cool, and at least with this genre there is the POSSIBILITY of changing the world for the better.
PS Fortunately such transitions from sci-fi fantasy to real world are few and far between. 90%+ of tv SF and pulp SF is dreck, and I myself and not looking forward to a Brave New World...
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Why not link to the article on transparent alumina as well? Though it needs a slight update, mind you.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Where are all the crazy modders?
;-)
;-( ]
- Transparent aluminum case
- Transparent hard drives
- Transparent power supplies
All without voiding your warranty
And for military uses - the sky is the limit (really - think about it...)
Get a free ipod [it really works - my buddy just got his... should have believed it earlier
Is nothing new - it's called corundum or as you more probably know it, sapphire (or ruby when it is red).
And hard is only one part of the story. Glass is hard, yet I wouldn't want to make structural elements of an aircraft from large hunks of glass... Aluminum is light and Tough (high energy to break). It is also ductile (deforms before breaking) something that no ceramic is...
So, while this is cool, and will probably be used for super scratch proof layers on spyplane camera transparencies or something like that where they can afford something like this, it isn't what you think it is.
As an aside, translucent alumina is used in something you see everyday - sodium vapor lamps use alumina to encapsulate the sodium metal that they use as their filament.
+++ ATH0 +++
There is some debate, the scientific consensus at the moment is that (ordinary) glass is NOT a liquid. Wikipedia has some interesting background info on this discussion.
In general, the composition of glass makes a huge different in properties such as hardness, inertness, transparancy and color. In ordinary glass, CaO is added to lower solubility in water and various other solvents.
Glass may flow, but it does so very very very slowly. As in "age of the entire universe" slowly.
Is it region coded? In 2367 can one finally get a region free dvd?! And, finally, what everyone wants to know is, did the copyright on mickey finally expire?!
I can't remember where i read about it, but it must've been here.. there are actually IP Phones made by one company that are wearable. Their primary market is hospitals. Ah yes, a quick google found me the product link.
Take a metal, and cool it off very rapidly, and it becomes very hard but also very brittle. Cool if off fast enough apparantly, before the atoms have a chance to properly align themselves, and it becomes transparent, which is what happens with Silica to make glass. They just found a way to cool off Alumina fast enough. Problem is, what gives metal its characteristics are the very nice, orderly arrangement of atoms bonded in sheets, so that it can remain strong while also bending before breaking.
I don't think this is anything other than a cool way to make glass out of something else, perhaps something stronger, but nowhere near as cool as a material resulting in clear body panels on a car, or clear coke cans.
"Attractive optical properties" must be nerd talk for "pretty"...
Seems a couple other people beat me to rebuking this, but I figured I'd throw another link in just in case there is any lingering doubt.
Glass is not a liquid. Glass is an amorphous solid.
All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
Transparent Aluminum Is Here
NO IT ISN'T! Commercially developed transparent Alumina (think clear ruby/sapphire) is here, HUGE difference. Sorry Trek fans, you will have to wait longer. There will be no clear planes, no clear cases made of Alumina. If cases were transparent Alumina then they would have the same properties as silica glass and you would have a nice greenhouse effect going on slowly (or not so slowly) frying your computer.
Alumina is a mineral/glass/ceramic, Aluminum is a metal!
Rosenflanz and Gildenflurn are dead!
sorry, go ahead mod me down. I couldn't help it!
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Somehow, I get the feeling that Apple is going to use this for the next gen of PowerBooks.
(It's a joke -- all the materials scientists don't need to correct me.)
-"Zow"
As If a million Startrek geeks cryed out in joy.
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Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
Sure it's been said but bears repeating.
If you have a high quality watch it is likely that the crystal is made from polycrystalline alumina (i.e. corundum...in this case synthetic corundum). The alumina glass is different however in the fact that it is a glass and therefore lacks crystal structure.
Since it doesn't have to be crystallized it is likely that it will be able to be produced in large sizes. However, being a glass it is not going to have the malleable properties of aluminum metal and will probably shatter if hit hard enough.
One atmosphere = 1 bar = 780 torr/mm mercury = 101.3 kilopascals.
Hence 1GPa is about 10000 atmospheres.
These kinds of pressures are not (too) difficult for research labs but industry goes all queasy above about 500 as these pressures don't scale well.
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Now that's a headline I'd get excited about.
I'd love a pair of sapphire-lensed sunglasses.
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
I once knew a guy who had this great idea to use aluminum oxide on DVDs and CDs to prevent scratching. He said the disks could be bulletproof, scratchproof, and unbreakable, although I think he was exagerating...
If that was the case, that would be an AWESOME application for this. Although the MP/RIAA would see that as a reason for preventing backup copies of your media. I mean, if the disk can't be damaged, why would you need a backup? Although you could still lose it or have it stolen...
...spike
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Plexicorp
I wanna cookie now!
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
After all sapphires are basically alluminum oxide too....
Are these windows amorphous like glass or crystaline like sapphires? (Assuming amorphous, but not sure).
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
"Rosenflanz and colleagues at 3M in Minnesota" One of those colleagues wouldn't happen to be named Guildenstein, would they?
Presumably he had a run of bad tea-machine experiences like this:
"Tea, Earl Grey." <sip> "Awww fuck my old boots, it's half-cold and stewed you fucker"
This news should not be surprising to anyone, since it's essentially a dupe! http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/2 0/0358206&tid=126&tid=14
The amusing thing, is that American scientists are given credit here, but if you look at the original article from 2+1/2 years ago, it was the Germans who discovered it. Hmmm...
You could argue that this article is just a 'refinement' of the previous article. I could believe that only if a link had been provided to the original article. Ah well... Odd that the article itself doesn't mention previous work by the Germans either...
This post is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
This news should not be surprising to anyone, since it's essentially a dupe! http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/2 0/0358206&tid=126&tid=14 [slashdot.org]
The amusing thing, is that American scientists are given credit here, but if you look at the original article from 2+1/2 years ago, it was the Germans who discovered it. Hmmm...
You could argue that this article is just a 'refinement' of the previous article. I could believe that only if a link had been provided to the original article. Ah well... Odd that the article itself doesn't mention previous work by the Germans either...
This post is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
I read some comprehensive article on "transparent concrete", probably the NY Times Sunday Magazine, but cant locate the reference. There are several related articles on Google. Concrete is seeing a resurgence as a decorative material, i.e. wall and floor coverings. Theres many ways to modify it to have more attractive decorative properties if you willing to sacrifice some structural strength. Concrete is inexpensive and easy to manipulate.
A more accurate term is translucent concrete. One guy embeds perpendicular optical fibers so some external sunlight gets through. There are other techniques too.
Go ahead, you can talk to your mouse all you want, you only need to get worried when it starts answering you... more so when it starts winning the arguments.
Even weirder, back in the early 1900's, a man named Harold Warp (Now somewhat famous for starting a huge museum called Pioneer Village in the middle of Nebraska) invented a way of heat bending of plastic glass (Called Flex-O-Glass. The more commonly known 'Plexiglass' is a copy by a later competitor once the patent expired.) that retained its optical properties. This process became known as "Warping". At about the same time, mathmaticians were stumbling across the basics of the time-space continuum, and borrowed the term to refer to bending time/space.
:) )
The main street in Minden, Nebraska has now been renamed from "Brown Avenue" to "Harold Warp Memorial Drive" (Which most people refer to now as "Warp Drive"). A friend of mine lives on Warp Drive, which is kinda cool to a geek like me.
So they did the original creator of "Warping" a disservice when they wanted to obtain Plexiglass instead of Flex-O-Glass.
(Yah, I went to high school in Minden...
Your spell checker!
Not quite true. Harold Warp did invent Flex-O-Glass, and there is a Harold Warp Memorial Drive. But his last name is a coincidence. Warp has meant to twist or bend something for hundreds of years. It originates from the old english word "weorpan". In 1346 it was used as a weaving term. (When weaving, you start with lengthwise threads, the "Warp" and weave the "Woof" perpendicularly across it). In 1440 the word Warp was first recorded as meaning to twist out of shape.
This is not the only coincidental last name. I'm sure many are familar with the inventor of the ball and suction device, still used in toilets today. His name was Thomas Crapper, but "crap", meaning defication, had been slang for at least 50 years before he invented the toilet. And it has meant general refuse for a great deal longer than that. The sirname Crapper originats in the 13th century, and is a variation of "Cropper", an occupation sirname, like Cartwright, Smith, and so on.
ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI