What Are Dichroic Glass Beads And Things To Consider When Buying Them

Dichroic glass was developed by NASA so that it could be used in satellite mirrors. The reason was that dichroic glass has brilliant dichroic optical properties that result from the numerous microlayers of extremely thin metal oxides. These layers are so thin that when combined they are not more than five-millionths of even an inch thick. This is an amazing property of dichroic glass and this is why it has so many applications today. Art Glass Supplies provide various types of dichroic glass for decoration.

The different metal oxides that are used in the production of this type of glass can range from chromium and aluminum to silver and gold. Glass acquires its unique property when different metal oxides evaporate on the surface of the glass inside a vacuum chamber. Then a firing process is carried out to fuse dichroic glass with another glass. Since the cooking process is different, no two pieces of dichroic glass are the same.

COE90

Each time they are produced, they will be unique and when different wavelengths of light are subjected to the glass, they will either pass through the glass or be reflected causing a range of colors to be seen. This type of glass is used in several applications and today even manufacturers of jewelry-making supplies use it to create beads.

So if you are considering using dichroic glass beads in your creations, there are several things to keep in mind. First of all, there are not many companies that produce high-quality dichroic glass beads. These glass beads have a multicolored appearance due to the presence of a special coating that gives them the ability to bend light waves like a prism. The equipment that is needed to coat the beads and produce this type of glass is expensive, which means that these glass beads are not really affordable. Therefore, before you buy, look for information about the manufacturers that produce these types of beads.