Optical constants

Refractive index of ZnO (Zinc monoxide)

Bond et al. 1965: n(e) 0.45–4.0 µm

Data: formula 4
Range: 0.45–4 µm
Optical axis: e
State: crystalline
Licence: CC0-1.0

Uniaxial crystal, axes: oe

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 2.01986
Extinction coefficient k: 0

Permittivity ε₁: 4.07983
Permittivity ε₂: 0

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

Abbe number V_d: 12.437
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.383371 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 2.24513
Group velocity dispersion: 1001.95 fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: -5466.15 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

# ZnO (Zinc monoxide): Bond et al. 1965: n(e) 0.45–4.0 µm
zno = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "ZnO", "Bond-e", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(zno.range_nm)  # (450, 4000) nm
eps = zno.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_4cb458316b41/lightsmith"
zno = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(zno.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (zno/bond-1965-e).

# ... load zno as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=zno)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=450, 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.

Dispersion formula

RefractiveIndex.INFO (formula 4), λ in µm

n^{2} = 2.80333 + \frac{0.9447 λ^{2.0}}{λ^{2} - {0.3004}^{2.0}} - 0.00714 λ^{2.0}

Valid from 0.45 to 4.0 µm.

Coefficients as stored

C_i	Value
C1	2.80333
C2	0.9447
C3	2.0
C4	0.3004
C5	2.0
C6	0.0
C7	0.0
C8	0.0
C9	1.0
C10	-0.00714
C11	2.0

Comments and conditions

Extraordinary ray (e). Room temperature.

Conditions

direction: e

References

1) W. L. Bond. Measurement of the refractive indices of several crystals. J. Appl. Phys. 36, 1674-1677 (1965)
2) Handbook of Optics, 3rd edition, Vol. 4. McGraw-Hill 2009 * Ref. 2 provides a dispersion formula based on data from ref. 1

doi:10.1063/1.1703106 Measurement of the Refractive Indices of Several Crystals, Journal of Applied Physics (1965)

Cite

W. L. Bond. Measurement of the Refractive Indices of Several Crystals. Journal of Applied Physics, 36, 1674-1677 (1965), doi:10.1063/1.1703106; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

Computed on 400 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

ZnO (Zinc monoxide), Bond et al. 1965: n(e) 0.45–4.0 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n
0.45	2.12273
0.452471	2.119239
0.454955	2.11584
0.457453	2.11253
0.459965	2.109304
0.462491	2.106159
0.46503	2.103094
0.467583	2.100105
0.470151	2.097189
0.472732	2.094344
0.475328	2.091568
0.477938	2.088858
0.480562	2.086212
0.4832	2.083628
0.485854	2.081104
0.488521	2.078638
0.491204	2.076228
0.493901	2.073873
0.496613	2.07157
0.499339	2.069318
0.502081	2.067116
0.504838	2.064961
0.50761	2.062854
0.510397	2.060791
0.513199	2.058772
0.516017	2.056796
0.51885	2.054861
0.521699	2.052967
0.524564	2.051111
0.527444	2.049294
0.53034	2.047513
0.533252	2.045768
0.53618	2.044058
0.539124	2.042382
0.542084	2.040738
0.545061	2.039127
0.548053	2.037548
0.551063	2.035999
0.554088	2.034479
0.557131	2.032988
0.56019	2.031526
0.563265	2.030091
0.566358	2.028683
0.569468	2.0273
0.572595	2.025944
0.575739	2.024612
0.5789	2.023304
0.582078	2.02202
0.585274	2.020759
0.588488	2.019521
0.591719	2.018304
0.594968	2.017109
0.598235	2.015935
0.60152	2.014781
0.604823	2.013648
0.608143	2.012533
0.611483	2.011438
0.61484	2.010362
0.618216	2.009304
0.62161	2.008264
0.625023	2.007241
0.628455	2.006235
0.631906	2.005246
0.635376	2.004273
0.638864	2.003316
0.642372	2.002375
0.645899	2.001449
0.649446	2.000538
0.653012	1.999642
0.656597	1.99876
0.660202	1.997892
0.663827	1.997037
0.667472	1.996197
0.671137	1.995369
0.674822	1.994554
0.678527	1.993752
0.682253	1.992963
0.685999	1.992185
0.689766	1.99142
0.693553	1.990666
0.697361	1.989924
0.70119	1.989192
0.70504	1.988472
0.708911	1.987763
0.712804	1.987064
0.716717	1.986375
0.720653	1.985697
0.72461	1.985029
0.728588	1.98437
0.732589	1.983721
0.736611	1.983082
0.740656	1.982452
0.744722	1.98183
0.748811	1.981218
0.752923	1.980614
0.757057	1.980019
0.761214	1.979433
0.765393	1.978855
0.769596	1.978284
0.773822	1.977722
0.77807	1.977168
0.782343	1.976621
0.786638	1.976082
0.790957	1.97555
0.7953	1.975025
0.799667	1.974508
0.804058	1.973998
0.808473	1.973494
0.812912	1.972998
0.817375	1.972508
0.821863	1.972024
0.826376	1.971547
0.830913	1.971076
0.835476	1.970612
0.840063	1.970153
0.844675	1.969701
0.849313	1.969254
0.853977	1.968814
0.858666	1.968378
0.86338	1.967949
0.868121	1.967525
0.872887	1.967106
0.87768	1.966693
0.882499	1.966285
0.887345	1.965882
0.892217	1.965484
0.897116	1.965092
0.902042	1.964704
0.906995	1.96432
0.911975	1.963942
0.916982	1.963568
0.922017	1.963199
0.927079	1.962834
0.93217	1.962474
0.937288	1.962118
0.942434	1.961766
0.947609	1.961418
0.952812	1.961075
0.958044	1.960736
0.963304	1.9604
0.968593	1.960069
0.973912	1.959741
0.979259	1.959418
0.984636	1.959098
0.990042	1.958781
0.995478	1.958469
1.00094	1.958159
1.00644	1.957854
1.01197	1.957552
1.01752	1.957253
1.02311	1.956957
1.02873	1.956665
1.03438	1.956376
1.04005	1.95609
1.04577	1.955808
1.05151	1.955528
1.05728	1.955252
1.06309	1.954978
1.06892	1.954707
1.07479	1.954439
1.08069	1.954174
1.08663	1.953912
1.09259	1.953653
1.09859	1.953396
1.10463	1.953142
1.11069	1.95289
1.11679	1.952641
1.12292	1.952395
1.12909	1.952151
1.13529	1.951909
1.14152	1.95167
1.14779	1.951433
1.15409	1.951199
1.16043	1.950967
1.1668	1.950737
1.1732	1.950509
1.17965	1.950283
1.18612	1.95006
1.19264	1.949838
1.19918	1.949619
1.20577	1.949401
1.21239	1.949186
1.21905	1.948973
1.22574	1.948761
1.23247	1.948551
1.23924	1.948344
1.24604	1.948137
1.25288	1.947933
1.25976	1.947731
1.26668	1.94753
1.27363	1.947331
1.28063	1.947133
1.28766	1.946938
1.29473	1.946743
1.30184	1.946551
1.30899	1.94636
1.31617	1.94617
1.3234	1.945982
1.33067	1.945795
1.33797	1.94561
1.34532	1.945426
1.35271	1.945243
1.36013	1.945062
1.3676	1.944882
1.37511	1.944704
1.38266	1.944526
1.39025	1.94435
1.39789	1.944175
1.40556	1.944001
1.41328	1.943829
1.42104	1.943657
1.42884	1.943487
1.43669	1.943317
1.44458	1.943149
1.45251	1.942982
1.46048	1.942816
1.4685	1.94265
1.47656	1.942486
1.48467	1.942323
1.49282	1.94216
1.50102	1.941999
1.50926	1.941838
1.51755	1.941678
1.52588	1.941519
1.53426	1.941361
1.54268	1.941203
1.55115	1.941047
1.55967	1.940891
1.56823	1.940735
1.57685	1.940581
1.5855	1.940427
1.59421	1.940274
1.60296	1.940121
1.61176	1.939969
1.62061	1.939817
1.62951	1.939666
1.63846	1.939516
1.64746	1.939366
1.6565	1.939217
1.6656	1.939068
1.67474	1.93892
1.68394	1.938772
1.69318	1.938624
1.70248	1.938477
1.71183	1.93833
1.72123	1.938184
1.73068	1.938038
1.74018	1.937892
1.74974	1.937746
1.75934	1.937601
1.769	1.937456
1.77872	1.937312
1.78848	1.937167
1.7983	1.937023
1.80818	1.936879
1.8181	1.936735
1.82809	1.936591
1.83812	1.936448
1.84822	1.936304
1.85837	1.936161
1.86857	1.936018
1.87883	1.935874
1.88914	1.935731
1.89952	1.935588
1.90995	1.935445
1.92043	1.935302
1.93098	1.935158
1.94158	1.935015
1.95224	1.934872
1.96296	1.934728
1.97374	1.934585
1.98458	1.934441
1.99547	1.934297
2.00643	1.934153
2.01745	1.934009
2.02852	1.933864
2.03966	1.93372
2.05086	1.933575
2.06212	1.93343
2.07344	1.933284
2.08483	1.933139
2.09628	1.932993
2.10779	1.932846
2.11936	1.9327
2.131	1.932553
2.1427	1.932405
2.15446	1.932257
2.16629	1.932109
2.17819	1.93196
2.19015	1.931811
2.20217	1.931662
2.21426	1.931511
2.22642	1.931361
2.23864	1.93121
2.25094	1.931058
2.2633	1.930905
2.27572	1.930753
2.28822	1.930599
2.30078	1.930445
2.31342	1.93029
2.32612	1.930135
2.33889	1.929978
2.35173	1.929821
2.36464	1.929664
2.37763	1.929506
2.39068	1.929346
2.40381	1.929186
2.41701	1.929026
2.43028	1.928864
2.44362	1.928702
2.45704	1.928539
2.47053	1.928374
2.4841	1.928209
2.49774	1.928043
2.51145	1.927876
2.52524	1.927708
2.53911	1.92754
2.55305	1.92737
2.56706	1.927199
2.58116	1.927027
2.59533	1.926854
2.60958	1.926679
2.62391	1.926504
2.63832	1.926328
2.6528	1.92615
2.66737	1.925971
2.68202	1.925791
2.69674	1.92561
2.71155	1.925428
2.72644	1.925244
2.74141	1.925059
2.75646	1.924873
2.77159	1.924685
2.78681	1.924496
2.80211	1.924305
2.8175	1.924114
2.83297	1.92392
2.84852	1.923726
2.86417	1.923529
2.87989	1.923332
2.8957	1.923132
2.9116	1.922931
2.92759	1.922729
2.94367	1.922525
2.95983	1.922319
2.97608	1.922112
2.99242	1.921903
3.00885	1.921692
3.02537	1.92148
3.04198	1.921266
3.05869	1.92105
3.07548	1.920832
3.09237	1.920612
3.10935	1.920391
3.12642	1.920167
3.14358	1.919942
3.16085	1.919715
3.1782	1.919486
3.19565	1.919254
3.2132	1.919021
3.23084	1.918786
3.24858	1.918548
3.26642	1.918309
3.28435	1.918067
3.30239	1.917823
3.32052	1.917577
3.33875	1.917329
3.35708	1.917078
3.37551	1.916825
3.39405	1.91657
3.41268	1.916312
3.43142	1.916052
3.45026	1.915789
3.46921	1.915524
3.48826	1.915257
3.50741	1.914987
3.52667	1.914714
3.54603	1.914439
3.5655	1.914162
3.58508	1.913881
3.60476	1.913598
3.62456	1.913312
3.64446	1.913023
3.66447	1.912732
3.68459	1.912438
3.70482	1.91214
3.72516	1.91184
3.74562	1.911537
3.76618	1.911231
3.78686	1.910922
3.80765	1.91061
3.82856	1.910294
3.84958	1.909976
3.87072	1.909654
3.89197	1.909329
3.91334	1.909001
3.93483	1.90867
3.95643	1.908335
3.97816	1.907997
4	1.907655

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: —

ZnO (Zinc monoxide): all datasets

Crystal

Thin film

Pellet

Querry 1985: n,k 0.21–55.6 µm n,k 0.21–55.56 µm

Nanoparticles

Bodurov et al. 2016: Nanoparticles; n 0.405–0.635 µm n 0.405–0.635 µm

About ZnO (Zinc monoxide)

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a direct bandgap semiconductor with a wide bandgap of approximately 3.37 eV. This unique property makes it a material of significant interest for various optoelectronic applications, including solar cells, sensors, and LEDs. ZnO also exhibits piezoelectric properties, which are exploited in the design of sensors and actuators. It naturally forms in a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure, displaying strong luminescence even at room temperature. Additionally, ZnO is a transparent conductive oxide, meaning it conducts electricity while remaining transparent to visible light, making it useful in transparent electronics and touchscreens. Due to its antibacterial and UV-blocking properties, ZnO is also commonly used as an ingredient in cosmetics and sunscreens.

More about ZnO (Zinc monoxide) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/main/ZnO/nk/Bond-e.yml
ID: ds_4cb458316b41
API: /v1/datasets/ds_4cb458316b41

Plot