Optical constants

Refractive index of Nb (Niobium)

Weaver et al. 1973: n,k 0.0258–0.862 µm

Data: tabulated nk
Range: 0.02583–0.8621 µm
Points: 179
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 2.92239
Extinction coefficient k: 2.85692

Permittivity ε₁: 0.378403
Permittivity ε₂: 16.6981

Absorption coefficient α: 610979 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): 32.7344 nm

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.842607 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 3.41751
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

# Nb (Niobium): Weaver et al. 1973: n,k 0.0258–0.862 µm
nb = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "Nb", "Weaver", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(nb.range_nm)  # (25.83, 862.1) nm
eps = nb.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_33e202b16a46/lightsmith"
nb = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(nb.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (nb/weaver-1973).

# ... load nb as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=nb)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=400, stop_nm=862, 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

J. H. Weaver, D. W. Lynch, C. G. Olson. Optical properties of niobium from 0.1 to 36.4 eV. Phys. Rev. B 7, 4311-4318 (1973) (Data points extracted from a figure)

doi:10.1103/physrevb.7.4311 Optical Properties of Niobium from 0.1 to 36.4 eV, Physical Review B (1973)

Cite

J. H. Weaver, D. W. Lynch and C. G. Olson. Optical Properties of Niobium from 0.1 to 36.4 eV. Physical Review B, 7, 4311-4318 (1973), doi:10.1103/physrevb.7.4311; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

180 rows as published

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

Nb (Niobium), Weaver et al. 1973: n,k 0.0258–0.862 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n	k
0.02583	0.8933	0.23
0.02584	0.8931	0.2302
0.02651	0.8663	0.2693
0.02712	0.8458	0.2984
0.02752	0.8376	0.3176
0.02786	0.8374	0.3344
0.02859	0.8567	0.3696
0.02872	0.8605	0.3755
0.02919	0.8733	0.398
0.02971	0.8887	0.4263
0.03031	0.9052	0.4514
0.03037	0.9076	0.4548
0.03106	0.9496	0.5012
0.03112	0.9526	0.5041
0.03165	0.9788	0.5241
0.032	1.005	0.5352
0.03251	1.048	0.5441
0.03331	1.103	0.5345
0.03391	1.137	0.5251
0.03405	1.144	0.522
0.0351	1.183	0.4914
0.03594	1.2	0.4541
0.03607	1.202	0.4475
0.03672	1.209	0.4184
0.03732	1.213	0.3999
0.03743	1.213	0.3947
0.03824	1.207	0.3496
0.03876	1.204	0.334
0.03916	1.198	0.327
0.04001	1.182	0.3148
0.04014	1.181	0.3136
0.04064	1.186	0.3109
0.04084	1.186	0.3067
0.04151	1.176	0.2665
0.04212	1.168	0.2437
0.04232	1.165	0.2382
0.04295	1.143	0.2347
0.04301	1.141	0.2349
0.04562	1.068	0.2502
0.04572	1.065	0.251
0.04875	1.003	0.2773
0.04945	0.9871	0.2826
0.05113	0.9405	0.2972
0.05281	0.8902	0.326
0.05308	0.8819	0.3303
0.0543	0.8443	0.3462
0.05509	0.8262	0.371
0.05733	0.7869	0.4619
0.05746	0.7849	0.4673
0.06021	0.7476	0.5828
0.06141	0.7396	0.6233
0.06392	0.7568	0.6819
0.0643	0.7593	0.6923
0.06741	0.7581	0.8105
0.0676	0.7586	0.8174
0.0696	0.7695	0.8848
0.07159	0.7929	0.9501
0.07175	0.7948	0.9552
0.07369	0.8304	1.019
0.07408	0.8418	1.032
0.0762	0.9078	1.089
0.07748	0.9436	1.119
0.07837	0.9704	1.132
0.08044	1.033	1.146
0.08201	1.081	1.154
0.08258	1.098	1.155
0.08511	1.161	1.155
0.08522	1.163	1.155
0.08736	1.202	1.149
0.08966	1.236	1.137
0.09106	1.247	1.12
0.09176	1.251	1.11
0.09303	1.257	1.094
0.09437	1.257	1.084
0.09525	1.257	1.08
0.09687	1.256	1.078
0.0969	1.256	1.078
0.09837	1.251	1.084
0.09905	1.248	1.088
0.1001	1.249	1.097
0.1006	1.251	1.102
0.1028	1.265	1.123
0.1035	1.271	1.128
0.1055	1.284	1.137
0.1065	1.291	1.138
0.1071	1.297	1.135
0.1099	1.323	1.121
0.1111	1.333	1.114
0.113	1.338	1.099
0.1149	1.325	1.078
0.1166	1.306	1.058
0.1185	1.286	1.043
0.1207	1.258	1.033
0.1234	1.211	1.04
0.1235	1.21	1.041
0.1263	1.153	1.076
0.1294	1.107	1.126
0.1298	1.103	1.132
0.1352	1.047	1.238
0.1368	1.037	1.272
0.1397	1.026	1.342
0.1442	1.018	1.452
0.1455	1.018	1.483
0.1509	1.021	1.603
0.1524	1.024	1.637
0.1543	1.03	1.678
0.1562	1.037	1.719
0.1578	1.051	1.749
0.159	1.096	1.792
0.1597	1.108	1.809
0.1614	1.133	1.833
0.1638	1.168	1.857
0.1669	1.212	1.887
0.1684	1.225	1.896
0.1716	1.245	1.914
0.1725	1.248	1.92
0.1756	1.252	1.949
0.1767	1.255	1.961
0.1789	1.267	1.991
0.1796	1.267	2.001
0.1849	1.262	2.076
0.1871	1.268	2.112
0.1899	1.289	2.164
0.1946	1.331	2.248
0.1957	1.342	2.268
0.1967	1.355	2.288
0.2002	1.443	2.382
0.2011	1.465	2.405
0.2068	1.588	2.535
0.2085	1.62	2.575
0.2112	1.676	2.615
0.2136	1.72	2.646
0.2172	1.787	2.683
0.2183	1.807	2.691
0.2195	1.829	2.697
0.2212	1.861	2.704
0.2231	1.903	2.695
0.2259	1.959	2.686
0.2324	2.077	2.656
0.2393	2.175	2.625
0.2452	2.253	2.58
0.2452	2.253	2.58
0.2486	2.293	2.548
0.2502	2.313	2.529
0.2612	2.347	2.512
0.2661	2.376	2.521
0.2746	2.453	2.565
0.2821	2.525	2.591
0.2878	2.592	2.568
0.2931	2.641	2.532
0.2936	2.644	2.528
0.3003	2.686	2.465
0.3072	2.706	2.401
0.3102	2.708	2.377
0.3172	2.684	2.347
0.3252	2.656	2.324
0.3388	2.615	2.315
0.3392	2.613	2.315
0.3539	2.563	2.368
0.3643	2.544	2.413
0.3845	2.528	2.517
0.405	2.528	2.634
0.4176	2.541	2.703
0.4252	2.559	2.736
0.4292	2.569	2.751
0.4415	2.608	2.795
0.4661	2.692	2.861
0.4882	2.768	2.891
0.5178	2.856	2.894
0.5386	2.905	2.879
0.5532	2.925	2.869
0.57	2.933	2.861
0.5762	2.932	2.86
0.6391	2.879	2.843
0.676	2.811	2.856
0.7029	2.7	2.93
0.7779	2.478	3.081
0.7988	2.338	3.237
0.842	2.207	3.379
0.8621	2.093	3.545

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: —

Nb (Niobium): all datasets

About Nb (Niobium)

Niobium (Nb) is a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, often recognized for its high melting point and unique superconducting properties. In the realm of optics, niobium's most noteworthy application lies in its thin film form, which can be utilized as a coating for specialized optical components. These coatings benefit from niobium's ability to provide excellent reflectivity in the infrared spectrum. Furthermore, due to its superconducting capabilities, niobium finds applications in advanced scientific equipment like particle accelerators and quantum computing setups, where it is used to fabricate superconducting radio-frequency (RF) cavities.

More about Nb (Niobium) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/main/Nb/nk/Weaver.yml
ID: ds_33e202b16a46
API: /v1/datasets/ds_33e202b16a46

Plot