I wonder how I can model anodized aluminium reflectivity in ray tracing-based optical simulation. I know that the parts my company is using are anodized to get covered with a ~20 um (as specified) thick corundum layer. I would like to be able to properly model angular dependence of such a surface reflectivity. I am using Zemax, but please do not limit yourself to it. Any hint is welcome.
The two options I can think of are
1) Create a model coating in Zemax by specifying reflectivity vs. angle. Can be done if I know the values. I could not find them so far. Could be measured as well but that's a major effort which I'd like to spare.
2) Specify a thin layer of corundum on top of a bulk aluminium part in Zemax. However I could not find the dispersion data for Al2O3 at 10.6 um and I cannot find anything in Zemax' material catalogues. Besides, I assume such a layer of 20 um thickness would act as a thin film resulting in AR or HR properties. But I don't think the anodization process is precise enough in terms of layer thickness so that I can rely on this side effect.
Any help or comment is highly appreciated.
Best Answer
In the optics community we usually refer to $\text{Al}_2\text{O}_3$ as sapphire instead of corundum which is the geologists name for it. However, when we talk about sapphire in optics we are usually referring to the crystalline form, and I'm not sure if your $20\ \mu\text{m}$ coating will be crystalline or not. Another difficulty lies in the fact that the optical properties of sapphire can change dramatically with small amounts of doping which is why the gemstones can be found in all sorts of different colors
Unfortunately, I was unable to find a lot of data on Sapphire at $10.6\ \mu\text{m}$. All of the plots I could find (such as the one below) show that the tranmissivity at that wavelength is very low. Unfortunately, the losses of many optical material at such long wavelengths can be very high. I know that in fused silica the absorption coefficient is around 90%. So, the low transmittance doesn't necessarily translate to high reflectance.
*Image From: http://www.crystran.co.uk/optical-materials/sapphire-al2o3