Optical constants

Refractive index of Stainless steel

Karlsson and Ribbing 1982: Ferritic steel; n,k 0.20–2.50 µm

Data: tabulated nk
Range: 0.2–2.5 µm
Points: 116
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 2.01955
Extinction coefficient k: 3.28568

Permittivity ε₁: -6.71711
Permittivity ε₂: 13.2712

Absorption coefficient α: 702673 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): 28.4628 nm

Abbe number V_d: —
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: 2.98 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 0.2685
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

# Stainless steel: Karlsson and Ribbing 1982: Ferritic steel; n,k 0.20–2.50 µm
stainless_steel = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("other", "stainless_steel", "Karlsson-ferritic", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(stainless_steel.range_nm)  # (200, 2500) nm
eps = stainless_steel.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_aeaca82ac4c2/lightsmith"
stainless_steel = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(stainless_steel.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (stainless-steel/karlsson-ribbing-1982-ferritic).

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

Ferritic stainless steel Avesta 393 M (similar to S340). Content by weight: Cr 13.5; Ni 0.16; C 0.048; Mn 0.27.

References

Björn Karlsson, Carl G. Ribbing. Optical constants and spectral selectivity of stainless steel and its oxides. J. Appl. Phys. 53, 6340-6346 (1982) (Data extracted from a figure)

doi:10.1063/1.331503 Optical constants and spectral selectivity of stainless steel and its oxides, Journal of Applied Physics (1982)

Cite

Björn Karlsson and Carl G. Ribbing. Optical constants and spectral selectivity of stainless steel and its oxides. Journal of Applied Physics, 53, 6340-6346 (1982), doi:10.1063/1.331503; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

116 rows as published

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

Stainless steel, Karlsson and Ribbing 1982: Ferritic steel; n,k 0.20–2.50 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n	k
0.2	0.8807	1.2704
0.22	0.9648	1.377
0.24	1.0099	1.4861
0.26	1.0068	1.601
0.28	0.9963	1.7276
0.3	1.0078	1.8706
0.32	1.0566	2.0208
0.34	1.1172	2.1638
0.36	1.1694	2.2971
0.38	1.2344	2.4214
0.4	1.3075	2.534
0.42	1.3766	2.6334
0.44	1.4517	2.7256
0.46	1.5372	2.8162
0.48	1.6307	2.9055
0.5	1.7244	2.9919
0.52	1.8059	3.0721
0.54	1.873	3.1404
0.56	1.9355	3.2004
0.58	1.9969	3.2617
0.6	2.0565	3.3248
0.62	2.1139	3.3881
0.64	2.1685	3.4507
0.66	2.2199	3.5118
0.68	2.2679	3.5707
0.7	2.3124	3.6273
0.72	2.3536	3.6821
0.74	2.3917	3.7354
0.76	2.4268	3.7877
0.78	2.4597	3.8395
0.8	2.4912	3.8909
0.82	2.5218	3.9422
0.84	2.5522	3.9933
0.86	2.5831	4.0446
0.88	2.6154	4.096
0.9	2.6488	4.148
0.92	2.683	4.2007
0.94	2.717	4.2544
0.96	2.7503	4.3095
0.98	2.7828	4.3663
1.0	2.8146	4.4243
1.02	2.8456	4.4832
1.04	2.8759	4.5422
1.06	2.9057	4.601
1.08	2.9354	4.6591
1.1	2.9657	4.7165
1.12	2.9971	4.7733
1.14	3.0301	4.8298
1.16	3.0642	4.886
1.18	3.0988	4.9419
1.2	3.1333	4.9976
1.22	3.1673	5.0531
1.24	3.2011	5.1086
1.26	3.2347	5.1642
1.28	3.2682	5.2201
1.3	3.3018	5.2762
1.32	3.3356	5.3325
1.34	3.3699	5.3891
1.36	3.405	5.4457
1.38	3.4414	5.5016
1.4	3.4788	5.5561
1.42	3.5161	5.6083
1.44	3.5528	5.658
1.46	3.5893	5.7059
1.48	3.626	5.7532
1.5	3.6635	5.8006
1.52	3.7018	5.8492
1.54	3.7395	5.8982
1.56	3.7749	5.9459
1.58	3.8078	5.9911
1.6	3.8398	6.0342
1.62	3.8719	6.0765
1.64	3.9054	6.1187
1.66	3.9408	6.1613
1.68	3.9766	6.2046
1.7	4.0105	6.2485
1.72	4.0405	6.2926
1.74	4.0664	6.3363
1.76	4.0888	6.3783
1.78	4.1083	6.4076
1.8	4.1334	6.4481
1.82	4.1674	6.4966
1.84	4.2025	6.54
1.86	4.2306	6.5818
1.88	4.2532	6.6219
1.9	4.275	6.6612
1.92	4.2986	6.7021
1.94	4.3268	6.744
1.96	4.3601	6.7864
1.98	4.3884	6.8293
2.0	4.4143	6.8724
2.02	4.4361	6.9158
2.04	4.457	6.9594
2.06	4.4809	7.0021
2.08	4.5087	7.0429
2.1	4.538	7.081
2.12	4.5665	7.1169
2.14	4.5925	7.1516
2.16	4.6156	7.1863
2.18	4.6372	7.2224
2.2	4.6599	7.262
2.22	4.6868	7.3073
2.24	4.7141	7.3573
2.26	4.7389	7.3922
2.28	4.7612	7.4278
2.3	4.7815	7.4647
2.32	4.8011	7.5018
2.34	4.8211	7.5417
2.36	4.8458	7.5864
2.38	4.8706	7.6299
2.4	4.8919	7.6709
2.42	4.9117	7.7101
2.44	4.93	7.7476
2.46	4.9456	7.7903
2.48	4.9631	7.8358
2.5	4.9881	7.8818

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: —

Stainless steel: all datasets

About Stainless steel

Stainless steel is a family of iron-based alloys known for their corrosion resistance and high strength. The key characteristic of stainless steel is the presence of at least 10.5% chromium, which forms a passive layer of chromium oxide on the surface, preventing further corrosion. Stainless steels are widely used in various industries, including construction, automotive, medical devices, and kitchenware, due to their durability and aesthetic appeal. There are several types of stainless steel, with austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic being the primary categories. Austenitic stainless steels are the most widely used category, comprising approximately 70% of all stainless steel production. They are characterized by their face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal structure, which provides excellent formability and weldability. Austenitic stainless steels are non-magnetic and have high levels of nickel and chromium. Common Grades:304 Stainless Steel contains approximately 18% chromium and 8% nickel. 316 Stainless Steel contains added molybdenum for enhanced corrosion resistance. Ferritic stainless steels are characterized by their body-centered cubic (BCC) crystal structure. They are magnetic and contain chromium ranging from 10.5% to 27%, with little to no nickel content. Ferritic stainless steels offer good corrosion resistance and are less expensive than austenitic grades due to the lower nickel content. Common Grades: 430 Stainless Steel contains approximately 17% chromium; 409 Stainless Steel contains approximately 11% chromium and is commonly used in automotive exhaust systems Martensitic stainless steels are known for their high strength and hardness due to their martensitic crystal structure. They are magnetic and typically contain 11.5% to 18% chromium with varying amounts of carbon. Martensitic steels can be heat-treated to improve their mechanical properties and are commonly used in applications requiring high strength and moderate corrosion resistance. Common Grades: 410 Stainless Steel contains approximately 12% chromium and is used in cutlery and steam turbine blades; 420 Stainless Steel contains higher carbon content for increased hardness; used in surgical instruments and knife blades.

More about Stainless steel →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/other/alloys/stainless steel/nk/Karlsson-ferritic.yml
ID: ds_aeaca82ac4c2
API: /v1/datasets/ds_aeaca82ac4c2

Plot