Common Polymers
for Optical Components
| Polymer Type | Acrylic (PMMA) | Polycarbonate (PC) | Polystyrene (PS) | Cyclic Olefin Copolymer (COC) | Cyclic Olefin Polymer (COP) | PolyEtherImide (PEI) | Thermoplastic Polyimide | OKP Polyester Resin | High Performance Polycarbonate Resin | Special Acrylic Resin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Trade Names | LUCITE, PLEXIGLAS | LEXAN, MERLON, Makrolon | STYRON, LUSTREX , Rexolite | TOPAS APEL | ZEONEX, ZEONOR | ULTEM | EXTEM | OKP4 | OKP4HT | Iupizeta EP | OPTIMAS |
| Refractive Index: nD (589.3nm) | 1.49 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 1.53 | 1.53 | 1.68 | 1.62 | 1.607 | 1.632 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Rate of Index change w/Temp dnabs/dT X 10-5 /°C | -8.5 | -11.8 to -14.3 | -14 | -10.1 | -8 | - | -9.1 | -13 | -11 | - | -9.6 |
| Abbe Value (Vd) | 55 to 57 | 30 | 31 | 56 | 56 | 19 | 19 | 27 | 23 | 27 | 58 |
| Transmission % at 550nm through 1.5mm thick sample | 92.1% | 89.9% | 88.8% | 90.7% | 91.0% | n/a | n/a | 88.2% | 86.2% | n/a | 92.1% |
| Birefringence | Ultra-Low | High | Medium | Low | Low | High | High | Low | Low | Ultra-Low | Ultra-Low |
| Haze (%) | 0.5 to 2 | 1 to 2 | 2 to 3 | 1 to 2 | 1 to 2 | 2 | 2% | 1 | 1 | <1 | 0.2 |
| CTE: Coeff. of Linear Exp. X 10-5 cm/cm/°C @ 70°C | 6.74 | 6.6 to 7.0 | 6.0 to 8.0 | 6.0 to 7.0 | 6.0 to 7.0 | 4.7 to 5.6 | 5 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 6.1 | |
| Specific Gravity [water @ 72.5°F] | 1.16 to 1.19 | 1.20 to 1.25 | 1.05 to 1.06 | 1.02 to 1.03 | 0.95 to 1.01 | 1.27 | 1.31 | 1.22 | 1.26 | 1.22 | 1.08 to 1.11 |
| Hardness | Rockwell M97 | Rockwell M70 | Rockwell M90 | Rockwell M89 | Rockwell M89 | Rockwell M109 | - | - | - | - | Rockwell 99 |
| Max Operating Temp (oC) | 90 | 120 | 100 | 160 | 115 | 200 | 220 | 100 | 125 | 100 | 100 |
| Relative Cost | Low | Low | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium | High | High | High | High | High |
| Diamond Turnable | Yes | No (Polystryene used as a Substitute) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Difficult | Difficult | Difficult | Yes |
| Color | Clear | Clear | Clear | Clear | Clear | Yellow | Yellow | Clear | Clear | Yellow | Clear |
