Transparency and translucency

Transparency and Translucency

• Transparency: Shining through, from Latin 'transparere' meaning be visible
• Translucent: Shining through, from Latin 'translucere' meaning to shine
• Opaque: Darkened, from Latin 'opacus'
• Late Middle English: Influenced by the French form

Factors affecting transparency in polycrystalline materials

• Crystalline grain size determines the size of grain boundaries
• Reduction of particle size below visible light wavelength improves transparency
• Microscopic pores near grain boundaries act as scattering centers
• Porosity volume fraction needs to be reduced for high-quality optical transmission
• Sol-gel chemistry and nanotechnology methods can achieve low porosity levels

Applications of transparency

• Transparent materials used for dichroic filters
• Optically transparent materials transmit most of the light and reflect little
• Liquids and aqueous solutions are highly transparent
• Absorption and scattering mechanisms determine the attenuation of light
• Transparency used in various applications, such as windows in buildings and optical devices.

Transparent ceramics and their applications

• Optical transparency in polycrystalline materials limited by light scattering
• Light scattering depends on wavelength
• Scattering centers have dimensions on a similar spatial scale as the wavelength of visible light
• Primary scattering centers in polycrystalline materials: Pores and grain boundaries
• Reduction of scattering center size below the wavelength of light leads to reduced scattering
• Applications of transparent ceramics: High energy lasers, transparent armor windows, nose cones for heat seeking missiles, radiation detectors for non-destructive testing, medical imaging applications

Transparency in nature and related concepts

• Transparency provides camouflage for animals in dimly-lit or turbid seawater
• Many marine animals, such as jellyfish, are highly transparent
• Transparency in nature is easier to achieve in specific environments
• Diminished transparency in good illumination
• Camouflage through transparency is effective for survival
• Related concepts: Brillouin scattering, clarity meter, colloidal crystal, haze (optics), light scattering

Transparency and translucency Data Sources