Optical constants

Refractive index of Cu-Zn (Copper-zinc alloy, Brass)

Querry 1985: n,k 0.21–55.6 µm; 85% Cu 15% Zn

Data: tabulated nk
Range: 0.21–55.56 µm
Points: 612
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 0.4144
Extinction coefficient k: 2.68392

Permittivity ε₁: -7.0317
Permittivity ε₂: 2.22443

Absorption coefficient α: 573981 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): 34.8443 nm

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -1 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 1.002
Group velocity dispersion: — fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: — ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy: 2.11001 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, n_g = n − λ dn/dλ, GVD = λ³/(2πc²) d²n/dλ², D = −(λ/c) d²n/dλ². Group-velocity dispersion is given for formula data only.

Use it in Lightsmith

Load this data in Python, simulate in one more line

pip install lightsmith

import lightsmith as ls

# Cu-Zn (Copper-zinc alloy, Brass): Querry 1985: n,k 0.21–55.6 µm; 85% Cu 15% Zn
cu_zn = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("other", "Cu-Zn", "Querry-Cu85Zn15", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(cu_zn.range_nm)  # (210, 55555.6) nm
eps = cu_zn.eps([633])  # complex permittivity

Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.

import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls

url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_2dc966a17b9d/lightsmith"
cu_zn = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(cu_zn.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (cu-zn/querry-1985-cu85zn15).

# ... load cu_zn as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=cu_zn)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=400, stop_nm=1000, num=81),
)
res = ls.solve(sim)  # exact Mie for a sphere
print(res.q_ext)     # extinction efficiency at each wavelength

Same spec runs with DDA, FDTD, BEM or T-matrix: ls.compare(sim, ["mie", "dda"]).

Materials guide Open a sphere of it in Studio Quick start Ask the community

Lightsmith is open source (MIT): Mie, T-matrix, BEM, DDA, FDTD, RCWA, TMM, mode solvers and inverse design behind one spec, on CPU or GPU. GitHub.

Comments and conditions

85% Cu, 15% Zn.

References

M. R. Querry. Optical constants, Contractor Report CRDC-CR-85034 (1985)

Cite

M. R. Querry. Optical constants, Contractor Report CRDC-CR-85034 (1985); Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

612 rows as published

CSV comma separated TXT tab separated YAML n, k Full database record original YAML All quantities CSV JSON metadata

Cu-Zn (Copper-zinc alloy, Brass), Querry 1985: n,k 0.21–55.6 µm; 85% Cu 15% Zn: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n	k
0.21	1.094	1.089
0.22	1.121	1.152
0.23	1.164	1.209
0.24	1.206	1.242
0.25	1.231	1.263
0.26	1.242	1.288
0.27	1.249	1.322
0.28	1.263	1.361
0.29	1.283	1.394
0.3	1.305	1.42
0.31	1.325	1.438
0.32	1.341	1.449
0.33	1.351	1.454
0.34	1.355	1.451
0.35	1.347	1.442
0.36	1.322	1.433
0.37	1.284	1.431
0.38	1.237	1.44
0.39	1.184	1.46
0.4	1.131	1.493
0.41	1.083	1.534
0.42	1.039	1.581
0.43	0.999	1.63
0.44	0.963	1.68
0.45	0.929	1.729
0.46	0.895	1.778
0.47	0.86	1.825
0.48	0.824	1.873
0.49	0.783	1.92
0.5	0.737	1.97
0.51	0.687	2.027
0.52	0.634	2.092
0.53	0.583	2.167
0.54	0.538	2.25
0.55	0.5	2.337
0.56	0.468	2.427
0.57	0.441	2.52
0.58	0.422	2.614
0.59	0.412	2.706
0.6	0.405	2.792
0.61	0.4	2.875
0.62	0.397	2.956
0.63	0.393	3.034
0.64	0.391	3.111
0.65	0.39	3.187
0.66	0.388	3.261
0.67	0.387	3.334
0.68	0.386	3.407
0.69	0.385	3.479
0.7	0.386	3.55
0.71	0.386	3.62
0.72	0.386	3.689
0.73	0.386	3.759
0.74	0.387	3.827
0.75	0.386	3.894
0.76	0.386	3.963
0.77	0.387	4.032
0.78	0.388	4.101
0.79	0.39	4.168
0.8	0.392	4.235
0.81	0.394	4.301
0.82	0.394	4.366
0.83	0.393	4.433
0.84	0.394	4.501
0.85	0.396	4.57
0.86	0.4	4.638
0.87	0.403	4.704
0.88	0.406	4.772
0.89	0.412	4.839
0.9	0.418	4.904
0.91	0.423	4.968
0.92	0.426	5.033
0.93	0.432	5.099
0.94	0.438	5.163
0.95	0.444	5.226
0.96	0.45	5.289
0.97	0.455	5.352
0.98	0.461	5.414
0.99	0.467	5.475
1.0	0.471	5.536
1.01	0.476	5.597
1.02	0.481	5.659
1.03	0.485	5.719
1.04	0.488	5.781
1.05	0.493	5.842
1.06	0.497	5.904
1.07	0.501	5.966
1.08	0.505	6.027
1.09	0.509	6.089
1.1	0.514	6.151
1.11	0.519	6.213
1.12	0.525	6.274
1.13	0.531	6.335
1.14	0.536	6.395
1.15	0.54	6.454
1.16	0.544	6.515
1.17	0.548	6.578
1.18	0.553	6.639
1.19	0.56	6.7
1.2	0.567	6.76
1.21	0.572	6.818
1.22	0.575	6.878
1.23	0.578	6.939
1.24	0.584	7.001
1.25	0.589	7.062
1.26	0.596	7.122
1.27	0.601	7.182
1.28	0.606	7.242
1.29	0.611	7.303
1.3	0.617	7.365
1.31	0.625	7.426
1.32	0.633	7.485
1.33	0.641	7.543
1.34	0.647	7.6
1.35	0.652	7.658
1.36	0.657	7.717
1.37	0.662	7.775
1.38	0.668	7.833
1.39	0.673	7.891
1.4	0.677	7.95
1.41	0.681	8.008
1.42	0.684	8.067
1.43	0.687	8.127
1.44	0.691	8.188
1.45	0.696	8.25
1.46	0.702	8.311
1.47	0.708	8.371
1.48	0.714	8.431
1.49	0.72	8.492
1.5	0.726	8.552
1.51	0.732	8.612
1.52	0.738	8.673
1.53	0.745	8.734
1.54	0.757	8.795
1.55	0.761	8.855
1.56	0.77	8.914
1.57	0.778	8.972
1.58	0.785	9.031
1.59	0.792	9.089
1.6	0.799	9.148
1.61	0.807	9.207
1.62	0.815	9.264
1.63	0.822	9.322
1.64	0.828	9.38
1.65	0.834	9.438
1.66	0.842	9.497
1.67	0.849	9.555
1.68	0.856	9.613
1.69	0.863	9.67
1.7	0.87	9.727
1.71	0.875	9.784
1.72	0.881	9.841
1.73	0.885	9.899
1.74	0.89	9.959
1.75	0.895	10.019
1.76	0.901	10.08
1.77	0.908	10.14
1.78	0.916	10.199
1.79	0.923	10.258
1.8	0.93	10.316
1.81	0.935	10.375
1.82	0.94	10.437
1.83	0.948	10.499
1.84	0.956	10.561
1.85	0.968	10.622
1.86	0.978	10.682
1.87	0.989	10.741
1.88	0.999	10.798
1.89	1.011	10.857
1.9	1.021	10.914
1.91	1.032	10.967
1.92	1.039	11.021
1.93	1.046	11.078
1.94	1.052	11.135
1.95	1.059	11.193
1.96	1.066	11.25
1.97	1.073	11.308
1.98	1.08	11.366
1.99	1.087	11.425
2.0	1.094	11.484
2.01	1.103	11.543
2.02	1.111	11.602
2.03	1.12	11.66
2.04	1.129	11.718
2.05	1.137	11.776
2.06	1.146	11.834
2.07	1.154	11.892
2.08	1.163	11.95
2.09	1.172	12.007
2.1	1.18	12.065
2.11	1.189	12.123
2.12	1.197	12.182
2.13	1.206	12.24
2.14	1.215	12.297
2.15	1.223	12.355
2.16	1.232	12.413
2.17	1.241	12.471
2.18	1.25	12.53
2.19	1.258	12.587
2.2	1.267	12.646
2.21	1.276	12.705
2.22	1.286	12.763
2.23	1.295	12.821
2.24	1.305	12.879
2.25	1.315	12.937
2.26	1.324	12.996
2.27	1.334	13.053
2.28	1.343	13.111
2.29	1.353	13.17
2.3	1.363	13.227
2.31	1.373	13.286
2.32	1.384	13.343
2.33	1.394	13.401
2.34	1.404	13.46
2.35	1.414	13.518
2.36	1.424	13.574
2.37	1.434	13.632
2.38	1.445	13.691
2.39	1.455	13.75
2.4	1.465	13.809
2.41	1.478	13.868
2.42	1.49	13.925
2.43	1.5	13.981
2.44	1.513	14.041
2.45	1.525	14.098
2.46	1.538	14.155
2.47	1.55	14.212
2.48	1.562	14.267
2.49	1.572	14.325
2.5	1.583	14.381
2.5063	1.59	14.418
2.5126	1.598	14.455
2.5189	1.606	14.491
2.5253	1.614	14.527
2.5316	1.623	14.564
2.5381	1.631	14.6
2.5445	1.639	14.637
2.551	1.647	14.673
2.5575	1.656	14.71
2.5641	1.664	14.747
2.5707	1.672	14.784
2.5773	1.681	14.821
2.584	1.689	14.859
2.5907	1.698	14.896
2.5974	1.707	14.933
2.6042	1.715	14.971
2.611	1.724	15.009
2.6178	1.733	15.047
2.6247	1.742	15.085
2.6316	1.751	15.123
2.6385	1.76	15.162
2.6455	1.769	15.2
2.6525	1.778	15.239
2.6596	1.787	15.277
2.6667	1.796	15.316
2.6738	1.805	15.355
2.681	1.815	15.394
2.6882	1.824	15.433
2.6954	1.833	15.472
2.7027	1.842	15.512
2.71	1.85	15.552
2.7174	1.859	15.592
2.7248	1.868	15.632
2.7322	1.878	15.673
2.7397	1.887	15.713
2.7473	1.896	15.754
2.7548	1.905	15.796
2.7624	1.915	15.837
2.7701	1.925	15.879
2.7778	1.935	15.92
2.7855	1.944	15.961
2.7933	1.953	16.003
2.8011	1.963	16.045
2.809	1.972	16.088
2.8169	1.981	16.131
2.8249	1.991	16.174
2.8329	2.001	16.217
2.8409	2.011	16.26
2.849	2.021	16.304
2.8571	2.031	16.347
2.8653	2.041	16.391
2.8736	2.051	16.436
2.8818	2.061	16.48
2.8902	2.071	16.525
2.8986	2.081	16.57
2.907	2.091	16.615
2.9155	2.101	16.66
2.924	2.111	16.706
2.9326	2.121	16.752
2.9412	2.132	16.798
2.9499	2.142	16.845
2.9586	2.153	16.891
2.9674	2.163	16.938
2.9762	2.174	16.985
2.9851	2.184	17.032
2.994	2.195	17.08
3.003	2.205	17.128
3.012	2.217	17.176
3.0211	2.227	17.224
3.0303	2.238	17.273
3.0395	2.249	17.322
3.0488	2.26	17.372
3.0581	2.271	17.421
3.0675	2.282	17.471
3.0769	2.292	17.521
3.0864	2.303	17.572
3.096	2.315	17.623
3.1056	2.326	17.674
3.1153	2.338	17.725
3.125	2.349	17.776
3.1348	2.36	17.928
3.1447	2.371	17.881
3.1546	2.383	17.933
3.1646	2.395	17.986
3.1746	2.407	18.039
3.1847	2.418	18.092
3.1949	2.429	18.146
3.2051	2.44	18.201
3.2154	2.452	18.256
3.2258	2.464	18.312
3.2362	2.476	18.367
3.2468	2.489	18.423
3.2573	2.501	18.479
3.268	2.513	18.535
3.2787	2.526	18.592
3.2895	2.538	18.649
3.3003	2.55	18.707
3.3113	2.562	18.765
3.3223	2.575	18.823
3.3333	2.588	18.882
3.3445	2.6	18.941
3.3557	2.612	19.001
3.367	2.624	19.062
3.3784	2.638	19.123
3.3898	2.651	19.184
3.4014	2.665	19.245
3.413	2.677	19.306
3.4247	2.69	19.369
3.4364	2.703	19.433
3.4483	2.717	19.497
3.4602	2.732	19.561
3.4722	2.746	19.624
3.4843	2.76	19.689
3.4965	2.773	19.754
3.5088	2.787	19.921
3.5211	2.802	19.888
3.5336	2.818	19.954
3.5461	2.833	20.021
3.5587	2.847	20.088
3.5714	2.861	20.157
3.5842	2.876	20.226
3.5971	2.892	20.296
3.6101	2.909	20.366
3.6232	2.925	20.436
3.6364	2.94	20.507
3.6496	2.956	20.579
3.663	2.973	20.652
3.6765	2.99	20.724
3.69	3.007	20.797
3.7037	3.024	20.871
3.7175	3.042	20.946
3.7313	3.06	21.021
3.7453	3.078	21.096
3.7594	3.097	21.172
3.7736	3.115	21.248
3.7879	3.134	21.325
3.8023	3.153	21.402
3.8168	3.172	21.48
3.8314	3.192	21.559
3.8462	3.211	21.638
3.861	3.231	21.717
3.876	3.251	21.798
3.8891	3.272	21.879
3.9063	3.293	21.961
3.9216	3.314	22.043
3.937	3.336	22.125
3.9526	3.357	22.209
3.9683	3.379	22.293
3.9841	3.401	22.378
4.0	3.425	22.464
4.0161	3.449	22.549
4.0323	3.473	22.634
4.0486	3.496	22.721
4.065	3.518	22.808
4.0816	3.542	22.897
4.0984	3.567	22.986
4.1152	3.592	23.076
4.1322	3.618	23.167
4.1494	3.644	23.258
4.1667	3.671	23.348
4.1841	3.697	23.44
4.2017	3.723	23.532
4.2194	3.749	23.625
4.2373	3.777	23.72
4.2553	3.804	23.815
4.2735	3.833	23.911
4.2918	3.862	24.007
4.3103	3.891	24.104
4.329	3.921	24.201
4.3478	3.951	24.299
4.3668	3.981	24.398
4.386	4.011	24.497
4.4053	4.042	24.598
4.4249	4.074	24.699
4.4444	4.106	24.801
4.4643	4.14	24.903
4.4843	4.174	25.005
4.5045	4.207	25.107
4.5249	4.24	25.211
4.5455	4.275	25.317
4.5662	4.31	25.422
4.5872	4.347	25.526
4.6083	4.382	25.631
4.6296	4.417	25.736
4.6512	4.452	25.843
4.6729	4.497	25.95
4.6948	4.522	26.058
4.717	4.557	26.167
4.7393	4.592	26.277
4.7619	4.627	26.388
4.7847	4.662	26.5
4.8077	4.696	26.614
4.8309	4.732	26.729
4.8544	4.768	26.845
4.878	4.804	26.963
4.902	4.841	27.081
4.9261	4.878	27.201
4.9505	4.914	27.321
4.9751	4.95	27.444
5.0	4.987	27.569
5.0251	5.026	27.696
5.0505	5.066	27.822
5.0761	5.106	27.95
5.102	5.145	28.08
5.1282	5.185	28.212
5.1546	5.227	28.346
5.1813	5.271	28.48
5.2083	5.313	28.615
5.2356	5.357	28.752
5.2632	5.401	28.891
5.291	5.448	29.031
5.3191	5.493	29.172
5.3476	5.54	29.316
5.3763	5.568	29.462
5.4054	5.639	29.61
5.4346	5.69	29.758
5.4645	5.744	29.906
5.4945	5.796	30.057
5.5249	5.852	30.209
5.5556	5.908	30.363
5.5866	5.967	30.517
5.618	6.027	30.671
5.6497	6.097	30.925
5.6818	6.147	30.982
5.7143	6.209	31.14
5.7471	6.273	31.298
5.7803	6.338	31.456
5.814	6.402	31.615
5.848	6.465	31.776
5.8824	6.529	31.94
5.9172	6.595	32.105
5.9524	6.662	32.272
5.988	6.731	32.441
6.0241	6.803	32.609
6.0606	6.875	32.777
6.0976	6.945	32.946
6.135	7.014	33.118
6.1728	7.085	33.293
6.2112	7.157	33.472
6.25	7.234	33.651
6.2893	7.31	33.829
6.3291	7.388	34.008
6.3694	7.463	34.189
6.4103	7.539	34.372
6.4516	7.616	34.559
6.4935	7.696	34.748
6.5359	7.777	34.939
6.5789	7.86	35.13
6.6225	7.942	35.322
6.6667	8.024	35.516
6.7114	8.106	35.715
6.7568	8.192	35.915
6.8027	8.278	36.117
6.8493	8.366	36.32
6.8966	8.453	36.526
6.9444	8.541	36.735
6.993	8.631	36.945
7.0423	8.72	37.158
7.0922	8.809	37.375
7.1429	8.901	37.597
7.1942	8.997	37.821
7.2464	9.096	38.045
7.2993	9.193	38.27
7.3529	9.289	38.499
7.4074	9.386	38.732
7.4627	9.486	38.969
7.5188	9.587	39.21
7.5758	9.69	39.454
7.6336	9.796	39.701
7.6923	9.903	39.952
7.7519	10.012	40.205
7.8125	10.123	40.461
7.874	10.235	40.719
7.9365	10.347	40.98
8.0	10.459	41.247
8.0645	10.572	41.52
8.1301	10.69	41.798
8.1967	10.811	42.079
8.2645	10.933	42.364
8.3333	11.057	42.655
8.4034	11.186	42.949
8.4746	11.317	43.248
8.547	11.45	43.549
8.6207	11.584	43.856
8.6957	11.721	44.169
8.7719	11.862	44.487
8.8496	12.006	44.812
8.9286	12.156	45.14
9.009	12.309	45.471
9.0909	12.464	45.806
9.1743	12.621	46.148
9.2593	12.784	46.495
9.3458	12.951	46.846
9.434	13.12	47.2
9.5238	13.29	47.562
9.6154	13.464	47.93
9.7087	13.643	48.304
9.8039	13.826	48.685
9.901	14.013	49.071
10.0	14.205	49.464
10.101	14.403	49.865
10.2041	14.608	50.269
10.3093	14.816	50.678
10.4167	15.029	51.09
10.5263	15.242	51.511
10.6383	15.461	51.94
10.7527	15.686	52.375
10.8696	15.916	52.817
10.989	16.151	53.265
11.1111	16.39	53.719
11.236	16.632	54.182
11.3636	16.879	54.652
11.4943	17.129	55.135
11.6279	17.39	55.622
11.7647	17.652	56.119
11.9048	17.92	56.624
12.0482	18.191	57.14
12.1951	18.47	57.666
12.3457	18.755	58.2
12.5	19.042	58.745
12.6582	19.332	59.303
12.8205	19.628	59.878
12.987	19.934	60.467
13.1579	20.25	61.069
13.3333	20.574	61.681
13.5135	20.905	62.304
13.6986	21.239	62.94
13.8889	21.577	63.591
14.0845	21.917	64.267
14.2857	22.27	64.962
14.4928	22.63	65.679
14.7059	23.004	66.414
14.9254	23.386	67.174
15.1515	23.783	67.955
15.3846	24.193	68.754
15.625	24.61	69.577
15.873	25.037	70.427
16.129	25.476	71.31
16.3934	25.935	72.219
16.6667	26.404	73.16
16.9492	26.888	74.137
17.2414	27.392	75.157
17.5439	27.922	76.216
17.8571	28.48	77.313
18.1818	29.066	78.451
18.5185	29.682	79.629
18.8679	30.33	80.852
19.2308	31.013	82.12
19.6078	31.732	83.436
20.0	32.491	84.805
20.4082	33.297	86.231
20.8333	34.16	87.708
21.2766	35.079	89.23
21.7391	36.042	90.804
22.2222	37.051	92.45
22.7273	38.125	94.189
23.2558	39.302	95.994
23.8095	40.568	97.868
24.3902	41.933	99.79
25.0	43.376	101.805
25.641	44.947	103.885
26.3158	46.628	106.055
27.027	48.455	108.288
27.7778	50.415	110.615
28.5714	52.551	113.008
29.4118	54.853	115.473
30.303	57.334	118.008
31.25	60.007	120.638
32.2581	62.917	123.353
33.3333	66.089	126.149
34.4828	69.557	128.989
35.7143	73.328	131.883
37.037	77.44	134.785
38.4615	81.894	137.698
40.0	86.72	140.601
41.6667	91.95	143.514
43.4783	97.658	146.384
45.4545	103.886	149.17
47.619	110.66	151.765
50.0	117.988	154.202
52.6316	125.846	156.236
55.5556	134.394	158.413

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence

Transmittance T: —
Reflectance R: —

Fresnel reflection calculator

R_p: —
R_s: —
R = (R_p+R_s)/2: —
Phase φ_p: —
Phase φ_s: —
Brewster angle θ_B: —
Critical angle θ_C: —

Cu-Zn (Copper-zinc alloy, Brass): all datasets

About Cu-Zn (Copper-zinc alloy, Brass)

Brass is an alloy primarily composed of copper and zinc, prized for its versatility and attractive gold-like appearance. Its mechanical properties, such as strength and ductility, can be adjusted by varying the copper-to-zinc ratio, making it suitable for a wide range of applications—from musical instruments and decorative pieces to plumbing and marine hardware. Brass is relatively resistant to corrosion and easy to machine, further contributing to its popularity in manufacturing and engineering fields. In decorative contexts, the natural patina that can develop on brass adds to its aesthetic appeal and cultural significance.

More about Cu-Zn (Copper-zinc alloy, Brass) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/other/alloys/Cu-Zn/nk/Querry-Cu85Zn15.yml
ID: ds_2dc966a17b9d
API: /v1/datasets/ds_2dc966a17b9d

Plot