Tonight: watch massive optical sapphire crystals being grown

Tonight on the Science Channel, Rubicon Technology (Franklin Park, IL) will demonstrate how the company makes some of the world's largest sapphires in a segment of the "How Do They Do It?" show.

John Wallace

Oct. 22, 2009

Tonight on the Science Channel, Rubicon Technology (Franklin Park, IL) will demonstrate how the company makes some of the world's largest sapphires in a segment of the "How Do They Do It?" show. The segment will show aluminum oxide heated to 3000 K and then formed into sapphires weighing in at as much as 400 lbs. A sapphire will be cut into cores, which will then be sliced into ultrathin wafers used to make LEDs as well as high-strength, rugged optical windows intended for military optical sensors and other devices.

Science Channel times:
Thursday, October 22nd at 9 pm Eastern Time/8 pm Central.
Friday, October 23rd at 12 am Eastern Time/1 am Central.
Saturday, October 24th at 4 am Eastern Time/3 am Central.

Visit Rubicon Technology online at http://www.rubicon-es2.com/.

About the Author

John Wallace

Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)

John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.