Precision Optical Filters from IRD Glass

IRD Glass manufactures numerous custom precision optical filters designed to expand the applications and improve the capabilities of numerous optical components. Our filters can be found in critical applications in the defense and homeland security, laser OEM, medical...

Precision Glass Tubes from IRD Glass

IRD Glass is the leading manufacturer of precision glass tubes that are essential in ultra-precision altimeter and airspeed indicators in aerospace applications, fuel efficiency sensors in automotive applications and in many cutting-edge sensor devices. Why choose IRD...
Glass Ceramic Machining by IRD Glass

Glass Ceramic Machining by IRD Glass

In applications where even a degree or two of thermal variation is vitally important, the material of choice is machined glass ceramic, which is annealed to a deliver near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion. The biggest and most well-known glass ceramic is Schott...

How to Take a “Picture” of a Black Hole

After many years of artist renderings, the first ever image of a black hole was released to the world in April. It looks just about how you would expect: a ring-like structure with a dark central region. The image was created using the Event Horizon Telescope, an...
Flying into the Sun in Sapphire Tubes

Flying into the Sun in Sapphire Tubes

Later this summer, a NASA solar probe will travel into the corona of the Sun—closer than any mission before—through material with temperatures greater than a million degrees Fahrenheit. If the mission is successful, it will mark a great leap forward in knowledge of...
A Simple Explanation of Quantum Computing

A Simple Explanation of Quantum Computing

In just sixty years transistors, the switching and memory units that allow computers to compute, have gone from the size of a hand to the size of an atom. In 1968 there were dozens of transistors on a microchip. Within a couple decades there were thousands. Today...