Aluminum Oxynitride (ALON® Optical Ceramic) combines broadband transparency with excellent mechanical properties. ALON’s cubic structure means that it is transparent in its polycrystalline form, allowing it to be manufactured by conventional powder processing techniques. Surmet controls every aspect of the manufacturing process, beginning with synthesis of ALON® powder, continuing through forming/heat treatment of blanks, ending with optical fabrication of ALON® windows. Surmet has made significant progress in its production capability in recent years. Additional scale up of Surmet’s manufacturing capability, for complex geometries, larger sizes and higher quantities, is underway. The requirements for modern aircraft are driving the need for conformal windows for future sensor systems. However, limitations on optical systems and the ability to produce windows in complex geometries currently limit the geometry of existing windows and window assemblies to faceted assemblies of flat windows. Surmet’s ability to produce large curved ALON® blanks is an important step in the development of conformal windows for future aircraft applications.
The requirements for modern aircraft are driving the need for conformal windows for future sensor systems. However, limitations on optical systems and the physical properties of optically transparent materials currently limit the geometry of existing windows and window assemblies to faceted assemblies of flat windows held in weight bearing frames. Novel material systems will have to be developed which combine different materials (e.g. ductile metals with transparent ceramics) into structures that combine transparency with structural integrity. Surmet’s demonstrated ability to produce novel transparent ceramic/metal structures will allow us to produce such structures in the types of conformal shapes required for future aircraft applications. Furthermore, the ability to incorporate transparencies into such structures also holds out the promise of creating multi-functional windows which provide a broad range of capabilities that might include RF antennas and de-icing in addition to transparency. Recent results in this area will be presented.
Aluminum Oxynitride (ALON® Optical Ceramic) combines broadband transparency with excellent mechanical properties. ALON’s cubic structure means that it is transparent in its polycrystalline form, allowing it to be manufactured by conventional powder processing techniques. Surmet has established a robust manufacturing process, beginning with synthesis of ALON® powder, continuing through forming/heat treatment of blanks, and ending with optical fabrication of ALON® windows. Surmet has made significant progress in our production capability in recent years. Additional scale up of Surmet’s manufacturing capability, for larger sizes and higher quantities, is currently underway. ALON® transparent armor represents the state of the art in protection against armor piercing threats, offering a factor of two in weight and thickness savings over conventional glass laminates. Tiled and monolithic windows have been successfully produced and tested against a range of threats. Large ALON® window are also of interest to a range of visible to Mid-Wave Infra-Red (MWIR) sensor applications. These applications often have stressing imaging requirements which in turn require that these large windows have optical characteristics including excellent homogeneity of index of refraction and very low stress birefringence. Surmet is currently scaling up its production facility to be able to make and deliver ALON® monolithic windows as large as ~19x36-in. Additionally, Surmet has plans to scale up to windows ~3ftx3ft in size in the coming years. Recent results with scale up and characterization of the resulting blanks will be presented.
Surmet continues to invest in and expand its manufacturing capability for ALON®
Optical Ceramic, as the market demand for this material increases. The biggest demand
and opportunity continues to be in the area of transparent armor, however, the market for
sensor domes and windows, made from ALON, continues to grow at an impressive rate
as well.
ALON® Transparent Armor's unsurpassed ballistic performance, combined with the
robustness of ALON's manufacturing process and reproducibly high material quality
make ALON the leading candidate for many future armor systems. Recent results for
ALON armor windows will be presented.
Advances being made in Surmet's production capability to support the very large
quantities of material required by the transparent armor market also benefit the sensor
market. Improvements in quality, quantity and manufacturability of ALON material,
combined with improvements being made in optical quality, ensure a robust supply of
high quality material for high volume window and dome applications. Recent
advancement in ALON® window and dome blanks, as well as in optical fabrication will
be presented.
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