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Fused Silica vs. Gallium Arsenide

Fused silica belongs to the glass and glass-ceramics classification, while gallium arsenide belongs to the non-glass optical ceramics. There are 13 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (13, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is fused silica and the bottom bar is gallium arsenide.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 73
85
Knoop Hardness 570
750
Poisson's Ratio 0.17
0.31

Thermal Properties

Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1900
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 720
360
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 1.4
47
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 0.5
5.6

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 2.2
5.3
Light Transmission Range, µm 0.16 to 3.5
1.0 to 16
Refractive Index 1.5
3.4

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 18
8.9
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 63
28
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.85
25