Optical constants

Refractive index of Fe (Iron)

Ordal et al. 1985: n,k 0.667–286 µm

Data: tabulated nk
Range: 0.667–286 µm
Points: 52
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 9.07367
Extinction coefficient k: 37.672

Permittivity ε₁: -1336.85
Permittivity ε₂: 683.648

Absorption coefficient α: 343044 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): 58.3015 nm

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: 0.55916 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 1.35726
Group velocity dispersion: — fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: — ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy: 0.0898436 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

# Fe (Iron): Ordal et al. 1985: n,k 0.667–286 µm
fe = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "Fe", "Ordal", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(fe.range_nm)  # (667, 286000) nm
eps = fe.eps([13800])  # 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_c5c1acb1cb38/lightsmith"
fe = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(fe.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (fe/ordal-1985).

# ... load fe as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=fe)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=667, 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.

References

M. A. Ordal, R. J. Bell, R. W. Alexander, L. A. Newquist, M. R. Querry. Optical properties of Al, Fe, Ti, Ta, W, and Mo at submillimeter wavelengths. Appl. Opt. 27, 1203-1209 (1988)

doi:10.1364/ao.27.001203 Optical properties of Al, Fe, Ti, Ta, W, and Mo at submillimeter wavelengths, Applied Optics (1988)

Cite

Mark A. Ordal, Robert J. Bell, Ralph W. Alexander, Lawrence A. Newquist and Marvin R. Querry. Optical properties of Al, Fe, Ti, Ta, W, and Mo at submillimeter wavelengths. Applied Optics, 27, 1203 (1988), doi:10.1364/ao.27.001203; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

52 rows as published

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

Fe (Iron), Ordal et al. 1985: n,k 0.667–286 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n	k
0.667	2.8735043	3.358996
0.714	2.9443374	3.4648084
0.769	2.973633	3.5471579
0.833	3.0342872	3.748608
0.909	3.0937414	3.8974446
1.0	3.1837613	4.1442444
1.05	3.2227697	4.2852453
1.11	3.2750676	4.4419211
1.18	3.3344296	4.6138021
1.25	3.3989889	4.8032972
1.33	3.467115	5.0146674
1.43	3.5376077	5.2542311
1.54	3.6099615	5.5306374
1.67	3.6845745	5.8553312
1.82	3.7628981	6.2434063
2.0	3.8475818	6.7151655
2.11	3.8935181	6.990845
2.22	3.9427114	7.2989194
2.35	3.9959802	7.645002
2.5	4.0543264	8.0360513
2.67	4.1189946	8.4808227
2.86	4.1915574	8.9905172
3.08	4.2740535	9.5797246
3.33	4.3691978	10.267835
3.64	4.4807297	11.081212
4.0	4.613996	12.056655
4.44	4.7769777	13.247145
5.0	4.9822242	14.731832
5.71	5.250716	16.634437
6.67	5.6202947	19.159671
8.0	6.1662033	22.672232
10.0	7.0686579	27.901743
11.1	7.6216326	30.807425
12.5	8.3467645	34.384013
14.3	9.3532527	38.936666
16.7	10.825531	44.921725
20.0	13.13127	53.12441
22.2	14.820484	58.469983
25.0	17.093309	65.004217
28.6	20.259827	73.149608
33.3	24.861494	83.533158
40.0	31.895957	97.090004
44.4	36.866495	105.45507
50.0	43.260218	115.07592
57.1	51.169978	126.39007
66.7	61.295883	140.34826
80.0	75.191427	158.1909
100.0	95.35771	181.9471
125.0	120.39992	207.32665
154.0	147.11263	230.22637
200.0	183.41621	260.36949
286.0	238.5194	305.98052

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: —

Fe (Iron): all datasets

Experimental data

Models and simulations

Werner et al. 2009: DFT calculations; n,k 0.0176–2.48 µm n,k 0.01759–2.48 µm

About Fe (Iron)

Iron (Fe) is a common element with widespread industrial applications, including construction, transportation, and manufacturing. In the context of optical systems, iron is not typically used in its elemental form due to its propensity for oxidation and poor transparency to light. However, iron-doped materials, such as iron-doped silica, are used for specialized applications such as in optical fibers for telecommunications and sensors. Iron is also used in the form of thin films in some optical components where its magnetic properties are advantageous. Additionally, mirrors for high-power laser applications can be made from polished iron or iron alloys, though this is less common than materials like copper. Overall, while elemental iron is not a primary material in optical applications, its properties are leveraged in various forms and composites for specialized uses.

More about Fe (Iron) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/main/Fe/nk/Ordal.yml
ID: ds_c5c1acb1cb38
API: /v1/datasets/ds_c5c1acb1cb38

Plot