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Transparency is a function of wavelength/photon energy as well as the underlying material. Glass (the silica version) is opaque to portions of the UV spectrum.
by hpcjoe 9y ago
Transparency is a function of wavelength/photon energy as well as the underlying material. Glass (the silica version) is opaque to portions of the UV spectrum.
Generally you'll get absorption (opacity) when the photon energy exceeds an energy gap, allowing valence band electrons to be bumped into conduction bands, creating a corresponding hole in the valence. In the case of metals, there is effectively no gap at points in k-space, so there is absorption throughout the spectrum.
- rbanffy 9y agoI imagine a clever arrangement of atoms where non-metallic regions alternate with metallic ones could do the trick, as long as the transparent regions line up enough. But anything this orderly doesn't look like a glass anymore.