Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength. Note: k data cover 20-430 nm only; k = 0 elsewhere in the n range 20-1490 nm.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 1.74962
Extinction coefficient k: 0

Permittivity ε₁: 3.06117
Permittivity ε₂: 0

Absorption coefficient α: 0 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): — nm

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.188 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 1.86009
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

# Kapton: Arakawa et al. 1981: n 0.02–1.49 µm, k 0.02–0.43 µm
kapton = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("other", "Kapton", "Arakawa", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(kapton.range_nm)  # (20, 1490) nm
eps = kapton.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_0e7ffcd3be07/lightsmith"
kapton = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(kapton.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (kapton/arakawa-1981).

# ... load kapton as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=kapton)],
    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

Kapton type H polyimide film

Notes on the source data (kept exactly as published):

k data cover 20-430 nm only; k = 0 elsewhere in the n range 20-1490 nm

References

E. T. Arakawa, M. W. Williams, J. C. Ashley, L. R. Painter. The optical properties of Kapton: Measurement and applications. J. Appl. Phys. 52, 3579-3582 (1981)

doi:10.1063/1.329140 The optical properties of Kapton: Measurement and applications, Journal of Applied Physics (1981)

Cite

E. T. Arakawa, M. W. Williams, J. C. Ashley and L. R. Painter. The optical properties of Kapton: Measurement and applications. Journal of Applied Physics, 52, 3579-3582 (1981), doi:10.1063/1.329140; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

Computed on 220 wavelengths, the same grid as the API and the library

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

Kapton, Arakawa et al. 1981: n 0.02–1.49 µm, k 0.02–0.43 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n	k
0.02	0.925937	0.0400473
0.021	0.923904	0.0412767
0.022	0.915985	0.0416709
0.023	0.911757	0.0461192
0.024	0.91146	0.0530719
0.025	0.902517	0.0547772
0.026	0.895754	0.0568048
0.027	0.893571	0.064859
0.028	0.886873	0.0672546
0.029	0.884279	0.0802408
0.03	0.875482	0.0854286
0.031	0.870154	0.09213
0.032	0.866449	0.105152
0.033	0.857435	0.112704
0.034	0.851276	0.124055
0.035	0.84769	0.134264
0.036	0.841717	0.145193
0.037	0.83609	0.157025
0.038	0.829131	0.166663
0.039	0.820824	0.176012
0.04	0.818011	0.189108
0.041	0.811907	0.20501
0.042	0.807737	0.220201
0.043	0.80313	0.231893
0.044	0.800449	0.249923
0.045	0.800566	0.267912
0.046	0.800975	0.286817
0.047	0.800207	0.30557
0.048	0.798658	0.322731
0.049	0.7966	0.339772
0.05	0.797306	0.359559
0.051	0.799482	0.380177
0.052	0.802996	0.40036
0.053	0.809318	0.418635
0.054	0.815921	0.439592
0.055	0.821632	0.463088
0.056	0.827888	0.483219
0.057	0.836681	0.50379
0.058	0.846571	0.52328
0.059	0.856842	0.542104
0.06	0.867677	0.563869
0.061	0.878863	0.585247
0.062	0.891507	0.608274
0.063	0.905624	0.630893
0.064	0.922503	0.648723
0.065	0.940719	0.66405
0.066	0.958996	0.682866
0.067	0.978848	0.701194
0.068	1.00368	0.718375
0.069	1.02723	0.735657
0.07	1.05121	0.750426
0.071	1.08589	0.76427
0.072	1.12355	0.775825
0.073	1.15118	0.787043
0.074	1.17467	0.791932
0.075	1.20214	0.796195
0.076	1.23337	0.796852
0.077	1.26161	0.795327
0.078	1.28821	0.793801
0.079	1.31019	0.789453
0.08	1.32957	0.784986
0.081	1.35376	0.78031
0.082	1.37657	0.773776
0.083	1.39487	0.767241
0.084	1.41777	0.760474
0.085	1.43626	0.75314
0.086	1.44938	0.745805
0.087	1.46182	0.738489
0.088	1.48385	0.731221
0.089	1.49938	0.723954
0.09	1.51294	0.715844
0.091	1.53593	0.706112
0.092	1.5499	0.696379
0.093	1.56354	0.685603
0.094	1.57736	0.67464
0.095	1.59096	0.660758
0.096	1.60433	0.645105
0.097	1.61766	0.632291
0.098	1.63056	0.619501
0.099	1.64361	0.607103
0.1	1.65696	0.594705
0.11	1.73295	0.408137
0.12	1.67304	0.221556
0.13	1.52842	0.135174
0.14	1.46019	0.160189
0.15	1.36149	0.156608
0.16	1.27153	0.169012
0.17	1.26021	0.282005
0.18	1.35339	0.427392
0.19	1.42193	0.546377
0.2	1.44561	0.581078
0.21	1.56059	0.639701
0.22	1.66391	0.6489
0.23	1.82397	0.642429
0.24	1.92132	0.611859
0.25	1.91803	0.551811
0.26	1.91391	0.441585
0.27	1.90242	0.40639
0.28	1.99375	0.403634
0.29	1.99358	0.400878
0.3	1.97017	0.381776
0.31	1.95692	0.333807
0.32	1.94286	0.172298
0.33	1.92835	0.13133
0.34	1.91404	0.113977
0.35	1.8999	0.104827
0.36	1.88401	0.0956777
0.37	1.86766	0.0868311
0.38	1.85959	0.0783102
0.39	1.85153	0.0697894
0.4	1.84346	0.0592894
0.41	1.83466	0.0482295
0.42	1.81899	0.0344458
0.43	1.80436	0.0182363
0.44	1.79909	0
0.45	1.79383	0
0.46	1.78856	0
0.47	1.78364	0
0.48	1.77948	0
0.49	1.77531	0
0.5	1.77114	0
0.51	1.76697	0
0.52	1.7628	0
0.53	1.76044	0
0.54	1.75857	0
0.55	1.75669	0
0.56	1.75481	0
0.57	1.75293	0
0.58	1.75105	0
0.59	1.74917	0
0.6	1.74729	0
0.61	1.74541	0
0.62	1.74353	0
0.63	1.74165	0
0.64	1.74048	0
0.65	1.73993	0
0.66	1.73939	0
0.67	1.73884	0
0.68	1.73829	0
0.69	1.73775	0
0.7	1.7372	0
0.71	1.73665	0
0.72	1.73611	0
0.73	1.73556	0
0.74	1.73501	0
0.75	1.73447	0
0.76	1.73392	0
0.77	1.73337	0
0.78	1.73283	0
0.79	1.73228	0
0.8	1.73173	0
0.81	1.73118	0
0.82	1.73064	0
0.83	1.73009	0
0.84	1.72954	0
0.85	1.729	0
0.86	1.72845	0
0.87	1.7279	0
0.88	1.72736	0
0.89	1.72681	0
0.9	1.72669	0
0.91	1.72659	0
0.92	1.72649	0
0.93	1.72639	0
0.94	1.72629	0
0.95	1.7262	0
0.96	1.7261	0
0.97	1.726	0
0.98	1.7259	0
0.99	1.7258	0
1	1.72571	0
1.01	1.72561	0
1.02	1.72551	0
1.03	1.72541	0
1.04	1.72531	0
1.05	1.72522	0
1.06	1.72512	0
1.07	1.72502	0
1.08	1.72492	0
1.09	1.72482	0
1.1	1.72473	0
1.11	1.72463	0
1.12	1.72453	0
1.13	1.72443	0
1.14	1.72433	0
1.15	1.72424	0
1.16	1.72414	0
1.17	1.72404	0
1.18	1.72394	0
1.19	1.72384	0
1.2	1.72374	0
1.21	1.72365	0
1.22	1.72355	0
1.23	1.72345	0
1.24	1.72335	0
1.25	1.72325	0
1.26	1.72316	0
1.27	1.72306	0
1.28	1.72296	0
1.29	1.72286	0
1.3	1.72276	0
1.31	1.72267	0
1.32	1.72257	0
1.33	1.72247	0
1.34	1.72237	0
1.35	1.72227	0
1.36	1.72218	0
1.37	1.72208	0
1.38	1.72198	0
1.39	1.72188	0
1.4	1.72178	0
1.41	1.72169	0
1.42	1.72159	0
1.43	1.72149	0
1.44	1.72139	0
1.45	1.72129	0
1.46	1.72119	0
1.47	1.7211	0
1.48	1.721	0
1.49	1.7209	0

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: —

Plot