SCHOTT B 270® Superwhite—a premium, high-purity crown glass—is a specialized class of glass renowned or its exceptional clarity, high solarization resistance, and high optical transmission. Manufactured through a highly controlled up-draw process, this modified soda-lime material offers an unparalleled combination of pristine fire-polished surface quality, outstanding internal homogeneity, and exceptional cost-effectiveness, making it the ultimate choice for a wide range of precision engineering, biotechnology, and optical applications.
Its advanced composition ensures that B 270® completely eliminates the characteristic green tint of standard soda-lime glass, providing a crystal-clear, ultra-white appearance due to its low iron oxide content. Available in various forms, standard sheet sizes, and ultra-thin profiles down to 0.3 mm, it caters to diverse, high-tech industrial needs where broad spectrum clarity from the UV-A range through the visible light and into the Near-Infrared (NIR) spectrum is required.
With an exceptional balance of broad spectral transmission, mechanical versatility, and highly favorable economic scalability, SCHOTT B 270® is widely used across advanced industries requiring absolute precision and reliability without the premium price tag of exotic optical glasses.
Characteristics of SCHOTT B 270® Superwite Glass:
- Broad Spectrum High Transmittance: Delivers a high, flat, and highly consistent luminous transmittance of approximately 91.9% (320 nm to 2600 nm), stretching from UV-A through the visible spectrum into the Near-Infrared.
- Ultra-White Optical Clarity: Formulated with ultra-pure raw materials to eliminate the typical iron absorption bands, ensuring a clear, water-white profile free of green tinting.
- Excellent Solarization Resistance: Highly stable under intensive sunlight or UV exposure, exhibiting virtually zero color aging or transmission degradation over long periods.
- Outstanding Structural Homogeneity: A tightly controlled, uniform refractive index tolerance (+/- 0.001) minimizes wave distortion and guarantees consistent optical performance across all thicknesses.
- Pristine Fire-Polished Surfaces: The continuous drawing process yields excellent parallelism and surface smoothness, bypassing the need for costly grinding and polishing in standard cover pane applications.
- High Receptivity to Strengthening: A high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE = 9.4 10-6/K ) and high alkaline content make it exceptionally responsive to both rapid thermal tempering and chemical ion-exchange strengthening.
- Certified Biocompatibility: Non-porous and biochemically inert, making it completely safe and stable for delicate biological interfaces and medical environments.
- Zero Autofluorescence: Minimizes background noise and signal masking, an essential trait for ultra-clear diagnostics and fluorescence microscopy.
- Excellent Coating Interface: The double-sided fire-polished surface provides a clean, pure chemical interface, ideal for the adhesion of anti-reflective (AR) or dielectric optical coatings.
Top Five Industries and Applications of SCHOTT B 270® Glass:
- Biotechnology and Life Sciences:
- Substrates for diagnostic lab-on-a-chip systems and microfluidic devices.
- Premium cover slips and plates for highly sensitive fluorescence microscopy.
- Consumer Electronics and Optics:
-
- High-clarity protective optical filters for camera lenses and action cams.
- Front panes and cover glass for 3D displays, touch screens, and projection windows.
-
- Industrial Sensors and Metrology:
-
- Protective cover glass for industrial light sensors, bar code scanners, and metrology windows.
- Inspection windows for highly abrasive or UV-intensive manufacturing environments.
-
- Optical Coating and Components:
-
- Base substrates for specialized anti-reflective, beam-splitting, and dielectric mirrors.
- Precision windows for laser welding equipment and copying systems.
- Aviation and Automotive:
- Head-up display (HUD) combiner glass and protective instrumentation glazing.
- Cover glass for external optical sensors and high-performance lighting systems.
-
SCHOTT B 270® Superwhite is an indispensable material that meets the demanding balance of high-end optical performance and cost-conscious innovation. Its broad spectral transmission, pristine surface quality, and freedom from color tinting make it a critical component in cutting-edge technologies across the most active high-tech sectors.
SGP is a trusted leader in precision glass machining and fabrication, backed by years of expertise working with high-performance optical materials like SCHOTT B 270® Superwhite across a wide range of industries and applications.
Whether you’re seeking more information about this versatile material, or need a quote for your specific project, our team is here to help. Contact us today with your questions or requirements—we’re ready to support your application from concept to completion.