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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Silicon Waffer as bounce mirror?

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Hey guys, im not in a position to test this... But:

Can highly polished silico. Waffers be used in stead of fs mirrors. I am at a demolition site tansd the company made silicon waffers and left tons of "rejects" behind. To me they look just at reflective as fs mirrors but have a tint to them. If nobdy ha a the answer, I already put a bunch away to take home to test.



Thanks
Michael
 





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They work great, but are HIGHLY fragile.. more so than glass in my experience. We have a company here in STL that makes them, Monsanto Electronic Materials Corp., and I've had a few friends that work(ed) there bring me samples. HDD platters work better IMO.
 

Benm

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Well, i have my doubts about the 'great' part really. First surface mirrors are produced because they do their job well, and i'd find it highly unlikely that something like a silicon wafer or harddisk platter would actually perform -better-.

The only realistic mirror that is superior to a first surface mirror would be a dielectrically coated one, but those generally only work well for one wavelength at a specific angle.
 
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Have you ever tested the power loss after the bounce Pat?

At ben... Have you ever seen a waffer.... They are front surfface and pretty much a perfect surface. As shinny as a mirror. But my concern is more directed because it has a "tint"
 
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Very minimal losses with the platter depending on wavelength. Maybe 10-15% worst case. Didn't measure the silicon, but it's pretty dark in color. With platters It sort of depends on the appearance. Some are "darker" than others, the lightest ones I've seen shine like chrome, like a proper mirror. Nearly perfect reflection from those. The darker ones exhibit more losses generally speaking. Benm is right though, a better wording on my part would have included the words "in a pinch" or "for sh*ts and grins" etc.

The losses are the only problem with either. Both the HDD platter and silicon wafer are polished to an exceedingly high degree, possibly better than most mirrors.
 
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Benm

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I guess the tint should be indication enough that such a wafer is not suitable as a full spectrum mirror.

Then again, there are different aspects to mirrors. The most obvious is reflectivity, which will prove favorable for anything intended to be a mirror. The other could be surface flatness/perfection, which could be better for a hdd platter or silicon wafer.
 
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I don't know about silicon wafers, but in my experience using HDD platters as mirrors, they tend to exhibit a bit of grating(?) effect. So, not a perfect mirror. Now, this use was over tens of meters, but for short distances, they may be nearly perfect.
 
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You may be right actually.. I've never used them other than to satisfy personal curiosity and that only involved a short distance.
 




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