Optical Silicon vs. Steatite
Optical silicon belongs to the non-glass optical ceramics classification, while steatite belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 17 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (12, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is optical silicon and the bottom bar is steatite.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 120 | |
| 540 to 620 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 150 | |
| 68 to 120 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 300 | |
| 32 to 150 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.23 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 110 | |
| 60 to 220 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 1350 | |
| 750 to 1230 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 700 | |
| 850 to 860 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 1.8 to 2.5 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 3.0 | |
| 7.0 to 9.0 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz | 12 | |
| 5.7 to 6.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.3 | |
| 1.9 to 2.8 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 35 | |
| 14 to 32 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 75 | |
| 52 to 83 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 6.4 to 32 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 | |
| 13 to 42 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 93 | |
| 0.79 to 1.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 18 | |
| 5.1 to 33 |