OPTICAL CERAMICS

advanced industrial materials developed for use in optical applications. Optical materials derive their utility from their response to infrared, optical, and ultraviolet light. The most obvious optical materials are glasses, which are described in the article industrial glass, but ceramics also have been developed for a number of optical applications. This article surveys several of these applications, both passive ( e.g., windows, radomes, lamp envelopes, pigments) and active (e.g., phosphors, lasers, electro-optical components). Additional reading Materials on optical ceramics may be found in A.J. Moulson and J.M. Herbert, Electroceramics: Materials, Properties, Applications (1990); Larry L. Hench and J.K. West, Principles of Electronic Ceramics (1990); and the section titled Electrical/Electronic Applications for Advanced Ceramics, in Theodore J. Reinhart (ed.), Engineered Materials Handbook, vol. 4, Ceramics and Glasses, ed. by Samuel J. Schneider (1991), pp. 110566.A good introduction to ceramics in general is provided by David W. Richerson, Modern Ceramic Engineering: Properties, Processing, and Use in Design, 2nd ed., rev. and expanded (1992). The processing of both traditional and advanced ceramics is described in James S. Reed, Introduction to the Principles of Ceramic Processing (1988); I.J. McColm and N.J. Clark, Forming, Shaping, and Working of High Performance Ceramics (1988); George Y. Onoda, Jr., and Larry L. Hench, Ceramic Processing Before Firing (1978); and four sections of the Reinhart book cited above: Ceramic Powders and Processing, pp. 41122; Forming and Predensification, and Nontraditional Densification Processes, pp. 123241; Firing/Sintering: Densification, pp. 242312; and Final Shaping and Surface Finishing, pp. 313376. Thomas O. Mason