About This Webinar
Spaceborne optics are exposed to extreme environmental conditions that may have short- and long-term effects on their performance. The periodic day to night transition over the orbit can induce strong temperature transient that may affect the optical figure due to factors such as high thermo-optic coefficients. Besides radiative heating, the ionizing radiation can also damage the optics via solarization or compaction. Due to their low thermo-optical coefficients combined with low density, infrared glasses (IRG) are a material of choice for astrospace applications. In this presentation, Weber and Marro share how these glasses are resilient to ionizing radiation.
*** This presentation premiered during the
2023 Photonics Spectra Infrared Optics Summit. For more information on Photonics Media conferences and summits, visit
events.photonics.com.
About the presenters
Gernot Weber is the global product manager for IR materials and laser glass at SCHOTT North America, Inc. and has been with SCHOTT AG since 2007. He started in the machinery and production technology division. After holding different positions in launch management and sales, he took over the position as global product manager for IR materials in the business unit advanced optics. In addition, Weber has been responsible for the global active laser glass business since 2020. In his role he is responsible for global business development, commercial and defense, with the associated areas of sales, marketing, production, and R&D.
James Marro, Ph.D., is a research and development scientist at SCHOTT North America, Inc. He received his bachelor’s degree in ceramics and materials engineering from Clemson University in 2011 and his master’s and doctorate degrees in materials science and engineering from Clemson University in 2013 and 2016. Since joining SCHOTT North America in 2017, his research efforts have focused on oxide and non-oxide glass development for a variety of applications, including solid-state batteries, optics, and electronics. He has also been heavily involved in improvement efforts on glass quality, processing, and materials characterization of IR optical materials.