Solarization of Optical Filter Glass

Solarization - the change in transmission due to strong UV light - is an undesired reaction in several optical materials. However this effect is more dominant in plastic materials and although the majority of glasses are inert to solarization, there are some glasses that are sensitive to UV radiation. The solarization effect is very much dependent on the compounds of the glass and the effect is different for any glass types. The functionality of optical filter glass ("color glass") relies on the stability of transmission spectrum in order to filter the desired wavelength. Therefore the transmission spectrum needs to stay unchanged despite UV light illumination or it dependency needs to be known beforehand. Extensive investigations at several optical filter glasses regarding solarization were performed by SCHOTT. Now SCHOTT is able to give a guideline for the effect of solarization in optical filter glass. An overview for several optical filter glasses and its dependency on solarization is given.