Fused silica

Fused quartz or fused silica is glass consisting of silica in amorphous (non-crystalline) form. It differs from traditional glasses in containing no other ingredients, which are typically added to glass to lower the melt temperature. Fused silica, therefore, has high working and melting temperatures. The optical and thermal properties of fused quartz are superior to those of other types of glass due to its purity. For these reasons, it finds use in situations such as semiconductor fabrication and laboratory equipment. It has better ultraviolet transmission than most other glasses, and so is used to make lenses and other optics for the ultraviolet spectrum. Its low coefficient of thermal expansion also makes it a useful material for precision mirror substrates.

Fused quartz is produced by fusing (melting) high-purity silica sand, which consists of quartz crystals. Quartz contains only silicon and oxygen, although commercial quartz glass often contains impurities. The most dominant impurities are aluminium and titanium.

Melting is effected at approximately 1650 °C (3000 F) using either an electrically heated furnace (electrically fused) or a gas/oxygen-fuelled furnace (flame fused). Fused silica can be made from almost any silicon-rich chemical precursor, usually using a continuous process which involves flame oxidation of volatile silicon compounds to silicon dioxide, and thermal fusion of the resulting dust (although there are alternative processes). This results in a transparent glass with an ultra-high purity and improved optical transmission in the deep ultraviolet. One common method involves adding silicon tetrachloride to a hydrogen–oxygen flame, however use of this precursor results in environmentally unfriendly by-products including chlorine and hydrochloric acid.

...
Wikipedia