Dichroic glass
Dichroic glass , also known as color effect glass , changes its color through lighting, sun, clouds or through the viewing angle. When dichroic (from the Greek. "You roos" = bicolor) is filter called that transmit certain wavebands and the others reflect. As a result, depending on the viewing angle, a different color appears, but the light is not absorbed and converted into heat.
The dichroic glass consists of several optical interference layers . The combination of high and low index layers creates a rainbow effect. The colors that are made visible by a dichroic filter include almost the entire color spectrum - both the additive (red, green, blue) and the subtractive (yellow, magenta, cyan) colors.
Technical specifications
Dichroic glass is usually used in a double or triple composite. In interiors or in art, the glass can be used in a double composite or as a single glass. Dichroic glasses are manufactured using a dip coating process. The coating solutions are converted into firmly adhering metal oxide layers at 480 ° C, which make the glass particularly resistant. The layers are hard, scratch-resistant and have a high chemical resistance.
Areas of application
Dichroic glass is used by architects, object designers, facade planners and artists. In the interior you can find it on doors, in room division or in decorative art. In exterior applications, dichroic glass is used in facades and art elements in architecture. In addition, it can often be found on public buildings, sculptures and bridges. It is also used in event technology as a color filter for so-called intelligent spotlights such as moving heads or scanners to mix a desired color, or for cold light emitters, in which the visible color spectrum of the light is reflected in the desired direction without the heat-carrying infrared area.
Practical examples
Dichroic glass is often used in engineering due to its diverse color facets. An unusual example is the luxury liner Freedom of the Seas . Parts of the outer facade are provided with golden shimmering glass surfaces, so that the balconies of some suites are bathed in golden light. The three identical candlesticks of the Copenhagen Opera House are also an extraordinary example of art with dichroic glass. The total of 4,500 individual glass surfaces made of filter and laminated safety glass look different colors due to their hundredfold reflection depending on the viewing angle. Dichroic glass was also used in the honeycomb-like cladding designed by the Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson for the Harpa concert and conference center in Reykjavík, which opened in 2011 .