Barium Fluoride (BaF2) Optical Material
Barium fluoride is a non-glass, inorganic optical material. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare barium fluoride to other non-glass optical ceramics (top) and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Mechanical Properties
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
60 GPa 8.7 x 106 psi
Knoop Hardness
80
Poisson's Ratio
0.32
Shear Modulus
25 GPa 3.6 x 106 psi
Thermal Properties
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1370 °C 2500 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
420 J/kg-K 0.1 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
9.0 W/m-K 5.2 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
18 µm/m-K
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Density
4.9 g/cm3 310 lb/ft3
Light Transmission Range
0.15 to 13 µm
Refractive Index
1.6
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
6.8 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
27 points
Thermal Diffusivity
4.4 mm2/s
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Handbook of Optical Materials, Marvin J. Weber, 2003
Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids, Edward D. Palik (editor), 1998