Transparent Aluminium!

Aluminium oxynitride (AlON) is a ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. It is marketed under the name ALON by Surmet Corporation. It has been dubbed transparent aluminum after a fictional Star Trek material..

(Photo courtesy by Surmet Corporation)

AlON is optically transparent (≥80%) in the near-ultraviolet, visible and midwave-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is 4 times harder than fused silica glass, 85% as hard as sapphire, and nearly 15% harder than magnesium aluminate spinel. Since it has a cubic spinel structure, it can be fabricated to transparent windows, plates, domes, rods, tubes and other forms using conventional ceramic powder processing techniques.

AlON is the hardest polycrystalline transparent ceramic available commercially. Combination of optical and mechanical properties makes this material a leading candidate for lightweight high-performance transparent armor applications such as bulletproof and blast-resistant windows and for many military infrared optics. AlON-based armor has been shown to stop multiple armor-piercing projectiles of up to 50 cal. It is commercially available in sizes as big as 18x35-inch monolithic windows.

Applications

In addition to being used as a transparent armor material, AlON is used as infrared-optical windows. As such it has applications as a sensor component, specialty IR domes, windows for laser communications, and in some semiconductor-related applications.

Bulletproof glass

As a transparent armor material, AlON provides a bulletproof product with far less weight and thickness than traditional bulletproof glass. 1.6" thick ALON armor is capable of stopping .50 BMG armor-piercing rounds, which can penetrate 3.7" of traditional glass laminate.