Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) Optical Material
Zinc selenide is a non-glass, inorganic optical material. It has a moderately high melting temperature and a moderately high thermal conductivity among non-glass optical ceramics. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare zinc selenide 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
69 GPa 10 x 106 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.28
Thermal Properties
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1520 °C 2770 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
340 J/kg-K 0.081 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
17 W/m-K 9.8 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
7.3 µm/m-K
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Density
5.3 g/cm3 330 lb/ft3
Light Transmission Range
0.6 to 21 µm
Refractive Index
2.5
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
7.3 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
26 points
Thermal Diffusivity
9.5 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