Calcium fluoride, Ch

Calcium fluoride is the main source of fluorine and its compounds. Since the late 1990s, approximately 5 million tons of this substance have been mined per year.

Calcium fluoride is a component of metallurgical fluxes, specialty glasses, enamels, ceramics, optical and laser materials. It is also used as a flux in the smelting and processing of liquid iron and steel.

In the laboratory, calcium fluoride is widely used as an optical material for infrared and ultraviolet radiation, as well as a material with an extremely low refractive index. In the early years of the 21st century, the market price of calcium fluoride fell, and many large plants were closed. Canon and other manufacturers use synthetically grown calcium fluoride crystals as components in lenses that reduce light scattering.

Excellent mechanical, technical and operational characteristics combined with transparency over a wide spectral range, high optical homogeneity, high radiation resistance allow the use of optical single crystals of calcium fluoride in:

• Microscopy,
• Quantum and power optics,
• Infrared technology,
• Spectrophotometry,
• Fourier spectroscopy,
• X-ray technology,
• Space technology,
• Astronomy,
• Holography.

Single crystals are used to make windows, prisms, lenses, and other optical components operating in the radiation range from ultraviolet to infrared. Optical components made of calcium fluoride are used without protective coatings.