Reference & DataBase of Optical Constants
Groups of materials:
- silicates:
pyroxenes, olivines, others
- silicon and silicon oxides:
Si, SiO, SiO2
- metals:
Fe, Al, Mg and others
- oxides:
FeO, Fe2O3, Fe3O4, MgO,
TiO2, Al2O3, spinel
- sulfides:
FeS, MgS, SiS2
- carbides:
SiC, FeC, TiC
- carbonaceous species:
diamonds, graphite, coals/kerogens, QCC, HAC, amorphous carbon,
others
- organics:
CH4, C2H6, CH3OH,
CH3CN, etc. (incl. "org.refract.res.")
- ices:
H2O, CO, CO2, NH3, others, mixtures
- extra-terrestiral materials:
those from Moon, planets, meteorites, etc. (incl. artificial ones)
- miscellaneous:
FeSi, FeSi2, carbonates, carbonils, etc.
For collected references to papers
and data files,
please follow the links to the groups of materials
given above
 
More data and information may be found in other
databases, published
collections
of optical constants and
reviews and books on the subject listed below.
Of some interest may be
the tools of the Kramers-Kronig analysis,
the Effective Medium Theory and
light scattering codes available in Internet.
About all that see below.
To cite the database one can use the reference:
Th. Henning, V.B. Il'in, N.A. Krivova, B. Michel, and N.V. Voshchinnikov (1999)
WWW database of optical constants for astronomy.
Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 136, 405.
The current state of the database and our future plans are described
(with some illustrations) in:
C. Jaeger, V.B. Il'in, Th. Henning, H. Mutschke, D. Fabian, D.A. Semenov, and N.V. Voshchinnikov (2002)
A database of optical constants of cosmic dust analogs.
J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf., accepted.
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Related Topics
WWW databases of optical constants:
-
Database on X-ray interaction with matter
The database includes a lot of things related to the problem.
In particular it allows one
to obtain "optical" properties of different materials
in the energy range from 30 up to 30.000 eV.
-
Database of solid CO and CO2 for ISO
The database contains files with the optical constants
of apolar and polar ices. The data were
derived from laboratory measured
infrared spectra of mixtures containing CO and
CO2 at temperatures between 10 and 80 K.
-
Ice analogs database
In the database one can find the infrared spectra
of laboratory analogs of interstellar ices.
The analogs consist of mixtures of
the molecules H2, H2O, NH3,
CH4, CO, H2CO, CH3OH, O2,
N2, and CO2.
-
Jena Laboratory database
Optical constants of many materials of astronomical interest
have been determined in the laboratory of Friedrich-Schiller-University
(Jena). Files with the data have free access.
-
Optical constants of amorphous carbon
A collection of files with the
optical constants of different amorphous carbon samples.
-
Optical constants of some astrophysical materials
Now HTML access to files with the optical constants of
astronomical silicate, graphite, PAH-graphite, and silicon carbide
very often used in astrophysics.
-
Optical constants of water (and ice)
A collection of data for water and old Warren's code
compiling the refractive index of water ice
(a updated code is
here).
-
Optical properties of materials used in applications
On the pages of Crystran Ltd one can find
tables with optical, physical and chemical characteristics of
materials (silicon,
sapphire, crystal quartz, fused silica,
MgO, etc) used in the manufacture of optics for
infrared and ultraviolet applications.
-
Characteristics and properties of semiconductor materials
This part of the Ioffe Institute site describes
various physical (and optical)
properties of many semiconductor materials (incl. Si and diamond).
There is also a graphics
library of the optical constants in visual
for a more wide group of materials.
-
HITRAN's aerosol indices of refraction
HITRAN - High resolution transmission molecular absorption database
has produced files with the refractive index of aerosol. Its page
includes links to other spectral databases.
-
U.S.Geological Survey database
Digital spectral library of minerals from 0.2
to 3 um (splib04a) as well as other spectral
libraries, software and useful information on (imaging)
spectroscopy (incl. that of planets) are available.
-
ASTER spectral database
A compilation of almost 2000 spectra of natural and man made
materials.
-
Atomic Line List
A list of lines of various atoms.
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Some published collections of optical constants:
- Zolotarev V.M., Morozov V.N., Smirnova E.V. (1984)
Opticheskie Postoyannye Prirodnych i Technicheskich Sred
(Optical Constants of Natural and Technical Materials).
Himiya, Leningrad (in Russian).
- Palik E.D. (ed.) (1985)
Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids.
Academic Press, New York.
- Palik E.D. (ed.) (1991)
Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids II.
Academic Press, New York.
- Palik E.D. (ed.) (1998)
Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids III.
Academic Press, New York.
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Some books:
- Abeles F. (ed.) (1966)
Optical Properties and Electronic Structure of Metals and Alloys.
North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam.
- Abeles F. (ed.) (1970)
Optical Properties of Solids.
Elsevier, New-York.
- Abeles F. (ed.) (1972)
Optical Properties of Solids.
Elsevier, New-York.
- Agranovich V.M., Ginzburg V.L. (1979)
Kristallooptika s uchetom prostranstvennoj dispersii i teorii eksitonov.
Nauka, Moscow.
- Azzam R.M.A., Bashara N.N. (1989)
Ellipsometry and Polarized Light.
North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam.
- Bohren C.F., Huffman D.R. (1983)
Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles.
J.Wiley & Sons, New York.
- Bentley F.F., Smithson L.D. and Rozek A.L. (1968)
Infrared Spectra and Characteristic Frequences 700-300 cm-1.
Interscience, New York.
- Crosswhite H.M., Moos H.W. (eds.) (1967)
Optical Properties of Ions in Crystals.
Interscience, New York.
- DiBartolo B. (ed.) (1974)
Optical Properties of Ions in Solids.
Plenum, New York.
- Egan W.G., Hilgenman T.W. (1979)
Optical Properties of Inhomogeneous Materials.
Applications to Geology, Astronomy, Chemistry, and Engineering.
Academic Press, New York.
- Farmer V.C. (ed.) (1999)
The Infrared Spectra of Minerals.
Mineral.Soc., London.
- Greenaway D.L., Harbeke G. (1968)
Optical Properties and Band Structure of Solids.
Pergamon, Oxford.
- Hapke B.W. (1993)
Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy.
Cambr. Univ. Press, Cambridge.
- Herzberg G. (1945)
Infrared and Raman Spectra of Polyatomic Molecules.
Van Nostrand, New-York.
- Hodgson J.N. (1970)
Optical Absorption and Dispersion in Solids.
Chapman & Hall, London.
- Hohler G. (ed.) (1970)
Optical Constants of Solids.
Springer Tracts in Physics, vol.54.
Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
- Ivlev L.S., Andreev S.D. (1986)
Opticheskie Svoistva Atmosfernych Aerozolej.
Leningrad Univ. Press, Leningrad.
- Mitra S.S., Nudelman S. (eds.) (1970)
Far-infrared Properties of Solids.
Plenum, New-York.
- Mitra S.S., Bendow B. (eds.) (1975)
Optical Properties of Highly Transparent Solids.
Plenum, New-York.
- Moss T.S. (1961)
Optical Properties of Semiconductors.
Butterworth, London.
- Nudelman S., Mitra S.S. (eds.) (1969)
Optical Properties of Solids.
Plenum, New York.
- Roeseler A. (1990)
Infrared Spectroscopic Ellipsometry.
Akademie-Verlag, Berlin.
- Salisbury J.W., Walter L.S., Vergo N, D'Aria D.M. (1991)
Infrared (2.1 - 25 um) Spectra of Minerals.
J.Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- Sherwood P.M.A. (1972)
Vibrational Spectroscopy of Solids.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Tauc J. (1966)
Optical Properties of Solids.
Academic Press, New York.
- Tompkins H.G., McGahan W.A. (1999)
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and Reflectometry.
Wiley-Interscience.
- Weaver J. et al. (1981)
Physical Data: Optical Properties of Metals.
Fach-Inform.-Zentr., Karlsruhe.
- Wooten F. (1972)
Optical Properties of Solids.
Academic Press, New York.
- for more recent books see
here.
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(the section is under construction)
Some reviews:
- Aspnes D.E. (1999)
Optical Properties of Crystalline Silicon.
In: Hull R. (ed.) Properties of Crystalline Silicon.
IEE
- Clark R.N. (1999)
Spectroscopy of Rocks and Minerals, and Principles of Spectroscopy.
In: Rencz A. (ed.) Manual of Remote Sensing.
J.Wiley & Sons, New York
- Harris G.L. et al. (1995)
Optical and Paramagnetic Properties ofSilicon Carbide.
In: Harris G.L. (ed.) Properties of Silicon Carbide.
IEE
- Huffman D.R. (1977)
Adv. Phys. 26, 129.
- Lien D.J. (1991)
In: Newburn R.L.Jr. et al. (eds.) Comets in the Post-Halley Era.
v.2, p.1005.
- Ramdas A.K. (2000)
Optical poroperties of Diamond.
In: Nazare M.H., Neves A.J. (eds.) Properties, Growth and Applications of Diamond.
IEE, Chapt.A1
- Salisbury J.W. (1993)
Mid Infrared Spectroscopy: Laboratory Data.
In: Pieters C.M., Englert P.A.J. (eds.) Remote Geochemical Analysis:
Elemantal and mineralogical composition.
Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge
- Swanepoel R. (1998)
Optical Functions of Amorphous Silicon.
In: Searle T.M. (ed.) Properties of Amorphous Silicon and its Alloys.
IEE
- Schmitt et al. (1998)
Optical Properties of Ices from UV to Infrared.
In: Schmitt B. et al. (eds.) Solar System Ices.
Kluwer Acad. Publ., p. 199.
- Silva (2002)
Optical and Paramagnetic Properties of Silicon Carbide.
In: Harris G.L. (ed.) Properties of Silicon Carbide.
IEE, Chapt.2
- Teiss W. et al. (1998)
Optical Constants of Porous Silicon.
In: Canham L. (ed.) Properties of Porous Silicon.
IEE, Chapt.8
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Kramers-Kronig (KK) codes:
The integral Kramers-Kronig relations connect the real and imaginary
parts of optical constants of a material at a frequency point
with their values over the whole frequency domain
(see e.g. Bohren & Huffman, 1983)
-
KK toolbox
These tools developed by Volker Ossenkopf include an interactive
program that allows to check the KK consistency of
refractive index or dielectric functions
and extrapolate them. Computations are controlled by eye via
graphical plots.
The code is available
here.
-
KK analysis
A special part of the KK toolbox for the analysis of
transmission spectra of samples.
The code is available
here.
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Effective medium theory (EMT):
The EMT presents an approximation to estimate the optical
properties of an inhomogeneous particle by its substitution
with a homogeneous particle having an effective refractive
index.
-
some basics of EMT
Several formula of the theory, a few words around them and
some tools for EMT calculations are on this page of Ralf Stognienko.
There is also an on-line
EMT calculator.
-
EMT calculators
Nice programs created by Volker Ossenkopf.
They allow one to find the effective refractive index for
some rules of EMT, several kinds of inclusions of different
shapes, etc. The codes (emc, nemc) are available
here.
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Light scattering codes:
-
Thomas Wriedt's list of codes
Many links and references to different scattering codes available
are given.
An extended section on Mie theory codes includes a lot of
simple and not simple codes for homogeneous spheres as well as
codes for layered spheres, spheres with non-concentric inclusions,
a sphere or cylinder on surface, bispheres.
Most of these codes and T-matrix codes for
rotationally symmetric scatters are free.
In contrast, 3D codes are mainly commercial.
They are based on different approaches:
generalized multipole technique, method of moments,
finite element and other methods.
Not only Fortran codes, but some in C++, Pascal, etc.
-
Piotr Flatau's list of the codes
Another list of links to different codes available via Internet.
Contrary to the Wriedt's list where the codes are
ordered by the method used, here scattering codes
are mainly grouped by the shape of the particles:
spheres, infinite cylinders, spheroids, etc.
-
a Java Mie code
This code allows you to calculate the optical properties
of a homogeneous sphere without leaving Internet.
-
a couple of other Mie codes
These codes calculate cross-sections,
scattering matrix and (sometimes) the Planck averages
for homogeneous spheres (and arbitrary ellipsoids in
the quasistatic limit).
There is a program to find the cross-sections for the case when
the material has the magnetic permeability different from 1.
The codes are available
here.
-
a Separation of Variables code
The code simulates light scattering by
homogeneous oblate and prolate spheroids with high accuracy.
It gives cross-sections (and scattering matrix elements)
for oblate and prolate spheroids in a very wide range of
aspect ratio, size, and refractive index values.
-
a sophisticated T-matrix code
The code computes the light scattering by rotationally symmetric particles
in fixed and random orientations.
The code is much faster than any 3D technique (see below).
It is in particular efficient
when an averaging over particle's orientations is required.
-
a 3D DDA code
The standard tool for calculations of light scattering by
particles of complex shape, structure, composition, etc.
It is not fast when the particle's size is larger
than the wavelength of incident radiation.
-
ray-tracing codes
Several ray-tracing codes for light scattering
by polyhedral shaped particles,
ellipsoids, nonspherical particles containing scattering and absorbing
inclusions.
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Optical properties:
The light scattering tools are used to calculate the optical properties
of scatterers (cross-sections, scattering matrix, etc.)
from given optical constants for a selected scatterer model.
-
Database of optical properties of scatterers
A still developing site devoted to systematic consideration
of the optical properties of various scatterer models and related
topics. It (will) contains original light scattering (LS) tools,
reviews of LS methods, library of tabales and graphics illustrating
the optical properties of different scatterers, a special on-line
tool to calculate some optical properties for selected scatterer model,
links to related WWW resources.
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Opacities:
In hydrodynamical calculations making for dusty media
one is known to require the data on the optical propetries of particles in the
form of opacities calculated for different temperature and density values.
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Opacities for protoplanetary disks
The WWW pages concern different aspects of calculation of monochromatic,
Rosseland and Plack mean opacities for dusty media under conditions
typical of protoplanetary disks (bibliography, data, codes).
Obtained opacities are expected to be in tabular and graphic forms.
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Created by
V.I.,
N.K.
Last modified:
10/07/02, V.I.