Optical constants

Refractive index of ZnS (Zinc sulfide)

Amotchkina et al, 2020: n 0.4–14 µm, k 0.4–1.0 µm

Data: formula 2 + tabulated k
Range: 0.4–14 µm
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength. Note: k data cover 400-1000 nm only; k = 0 elsewhere in the n range 400-14000 nm.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 2.36805
Extinction coefficient k: 0.00054288

Permittivity ε₁: 5.60767
Permittivity ε₂: 0.00257114

Absorption coefficient α: 116.1 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): 172265 nm

Abbe number V_d: 15.954
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.413225 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 2.61086
Group velocity dispersion: 975.754 fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: -5323.26 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

# ZnS (Zinc sulfide): Amotchkina et al, 2020: n 0.4–14 µm, k 0.4–1.0 µm
zns = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "ZnS", "Amotchkina", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(zns.range_nm)  # (400, 14000) nm
eps = zns.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_4a9440e55021/lightsmith"
zns = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(zns.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (zns/amotchkina-2020).

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

import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls

url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_4a9440e55021/lightsmith?model=drude_lorentz"
zns_dl = ls.DrudeLorentz.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))

A dispersive Drude–Lorentz model for time-domain solvers.

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

Sellmeier (C in µm²) (formula 2), λ in µm

n^{2} - 1 = 0.010356 + \frac{3.619092 λ^{2}}{λ^{2} - 0.02345364} + \frac{0.50813 λ^{2}}{λ^{2} - 0.099946} + \frac{2.219955 λ^{2}}{λ^{2} - 1148.729}

Valid from 0.4 to 14.0 µm.

Coefficients as stored

C_i	Value
C1	0.010356
C2	3.619092
C3	0.02345364
C4	0.50813
C5	0.099946
C6	2.219955
C7	1148.729

Comments and conditions

1.008 µm ZnS film deposited on 3 mm thick Ge substrate by e-beam evaporation at 120 °C substrate temperature.

Conditions

substrate: Ge
film thickness: 1.00e-6

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

k data cover 400-1000 nm only; k = 0 elsewhere in the n range 400-14000 nm

References

T. Amotchkina, M. Trubetskov, D. Hahner, V. Pervak. Characterization of e-beam evaporated Ge, YbF₃, ZnS, and LaF₃ thin films for laser-oriented coatings. Appl. Opt. 59, A40-A47 (2020) (Data kindly provided by Tatiana Amotchkina [data] [description])

doi:10.1364/ao.59.000a40 Characterization of e-beam evaporated Ge, YbF 3 , ZnS, and LaF 3 thin films for laser-oriented coatings, Applied Optics (2019)

Cite

Tatiana Amotchkina, Michael Trubetskov, Daniel Hahner and Vladimir Pervak. Characterization of e-beam evaporated Ge, YbF 3 , ZnS, and LaF 3 thin films for laser-oriented coatings. Applied Optics, 59, A40 (2019), doi:10.1364/ao.59.000a40; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

Computed on 460 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

ZnS (Zinc sulfide), Amotchkina et al, 2020: n 0.4–14 µm, k 0.4–1.0 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n	k
0.4	2.569934	0.00192
0.40358	2.559896	0.001877038
0.407192	2.550422	0.001833691
0.41	2.543468	0.0018
0.410837	2.54146	0.001789956
0.414514	2.532965	0.00174583
0.418224	2.5249	0.001701309
0.42	2.521204	0.00168
0.421968	2.517227	0.001658357
0.425744	2.509918	0.001616812
0.429555	2.502944	0.001574895
0.43	2.502154	0.00157
0.4334	2.49628	0.001536003
0.437279	2.489905	0.001497212
0.44	2.485627	0.00147
0.441193	2.483799	0.001458073
0.445142	2.477944	0.001418585
0.449126	2.472324	0.001378742
0.45	2.471127	0.00137
0.453146	2.466923	0.001341689
0.457202	2.461728	0.001305186
0.46	2.458284	0.00128
0.461294	2.456728	0.001269651
0.465422	2.451911	0.00123662
0.469588	2.447266	0.001203294
0.47	2.446818	0.0012
0.473791	2.442785	0.00116967
0.478032	2.438457	0.001135745
0.48	2.436512	0.00112
0.482311	2.434276	0.001103826
0.486627	2.430234	0.001073608
0.49	2.427193	0.00105
0.490983	2.426324	0.001043119
0.495377	2.42254	0.001012358
0.499811	2.418875	0.0009813206
0.5	2.418722	0.00098
0.504285	2.415324	0.0009525767
0.508798	2.411881	0.0009236898
0.51	2.410988	0.000916
0.513352	2.408543	0.0008958853
0.517947	2.405304	0.0008683168
0.52	2.403897	0.000856
0.522583	2.40216	0.0008415348
0.52726	2.399107	0.0008153416
0.53	2.397372	0.0008
0.53198	2.396142	0.0007897058
0.536741	2.39326	0.0007649462
0.54	2.391348	0.000748
0.541545	2.390459	0.0007404285
0.546392	2.387735	0.0007166778
0.55	2.385771	0.000699
0.551283	2.385085	0.0006932276
0.556217	2.382507	0.0006710236
0.56	2.380592	0.000654
0.561195	2.379997	0.0006488598
0.566218	2.377554	0.0006272611
0.57	2.375771	0.000611
0.571286	2.375175	0.000605855
0.5764	2.372858	0.0005854018
0.58	2.371274	0.000571
0.581559	2.3706	0.0005652332
0.586764	2.368399	0.0005459739
0.59	2.367069	0.000534
0.592016	2.366254	0.0005269454
0.597314	2.364163	0.0005083995
0.6	2.36313	0.000499
0.602661	2.362123	0.0004902198
0.608055	2.360134	0.0004724193
0.61	2.359433	0.000466
0.613497	2.358193	0.0004555086
0.618988	2.356299	0.0004390353
0.62	2.355957	0.000436
0.624528	2.354451	0.0004233203
0.63	2.352684	0.000408
0.630118	2.352647	0.0004076807
0.635758	2.350885	0.0003924531
0.64	2.349598	0.000381
0.641448	2.349165	0.0003773789
0.64719	2.347485	0.0003630257
0.65	2.346683	0.000356
0.652982	2.345844	0.0003491406
0.658827	2.344241	0.0003356982
0.66	2.343926	0.000333
0.664724	2.342675	0.0003226079
0.67	2.341315	0.000311
0.670673	2.341144	0.0003096535
0.676676	2.339649	0.0002976478
0.68	2.33884	0.000291
0.682733	2.338186	0.000285808
0.688843	2.336757	0.0002741975
0.69	2.336491	0.000272
0.695009	2.335359	0.000262984
0.7	2.334259	0.000254
0.70123	2.333993	0.0002520327
0.707506	2.332656	0.0002419906
0.71	2.332136	0.000238
0.713838	2.331349	0.0002318586
0.72	2.330115	0.000222
0.720228	2.33007	0.0002216814
0.726674	2.328819	0.0002126565
0.73	2.328189	0.000208
0.733178	2.327595	0.0002035508
0.73974	2.326398	0.0001943636
0.74	2.326351	0.000194
0.746361	2.325226	0.0001857303
0.75	2.324597	0.000181
0.753042	2.324079	0.0001776542
0.759782	2.322956	0.0001702402
0.76	2.32292	0.00017
0.766582	2.321857	0.0001627597
0.77	2.321317	0.000159
0.773443	2.320781	0.0001552123
0.78	2.319783	0.000148
0.780366	2.319728	0.0001476706
0.787351	2.318697	0.0001413844
0.79	2.318314	0.000139
0.794398	2.317687	0.000135042
0.8	2.316905	0.00013
0.801508	2.316698	0.0001286428
0.808682	2.315729	0.0001221863
0.81	2.315555	0.000121
0.81592	2.314781	0.000116264
0.82	2.314258	0.000113
0.823223	2.313852	0.000110744
0.83	2.313013	0.000106
0.830591	2.312941	0.0001055803
0.838025	2.31205	0.0001003021
0.84	2.311817	9.890000e-05
0.845526	2.311176	9.530812e-05
0.85	2.310667	9.240000e-05
0.853094	2.31032	9.054371e-05
0.86	2.30956	8.640000e-05
0.860729	2.309481	8.599154e-05
0.868433	2.308659	8.167734e-05
0.87	2.308495	8.080000e-05
0.876206	2.307853	7.751071e-05
0.88	2.307469	7.550000e-05
0.884049	2.307064	7.351616e-05
0.89	2.30648	7.060000e-05
0.891961	2.30629	6.969780e-05
0.899945	2.305531	6.602540e-05
0.9	2.305526	6.600000e-05
0.908	2.304788	6.256013e-05
0.91	2.304606	6.170000e-05
0.916127	2.304059	5.924931e-05
0.92	2.303719	5.770000e-05
0.924326	2.303344	5.605594e-05
0.93	2.302861	5.390000e-05
0.9326	2.302643	5.299013e-05
0.94	2.302033	5.040000e-05
0.940947	2.301956	5.008755e-05
0.949369	2.301283	4.730831e-05
0.95	2.301233	4.710000e-05
0.957866	2.300622	4.466153e-05
0.96	2.300459	4.400000e-05
0.966439	2.299974	4.219697e-05
0.97	2.29971	4.120000e-05
0.975089	2.299339	3.982584e-05
0.98	2.298986	3.850000e-05
0.983817	2.298715	3.754576e-05
0.99	2.298284	3.600000e-05
0.992623	2.298104	2.655869e-05
1	2.297605	0
1.00151	2.297504	0
1.01047	2.296916	0
1.01952	2.296339	0
1.02864	2.295773	0
1.03785	2.295217	0
1.04714	2.294672	0
1.05651	2.294138	0
1.06596	2.293613	0
1.07551	2.293098	0
1.08513	2.292592	0
1.09484	2.292096	0
1.10464	2.291609	0
1.11453	2.291132	0
1.12451	2.290662	0
1.13457	2.290202	0
1.14473	2.28975	0
1.15497	2.289306	0
1.16531	2.28887	0
1.17574	2.288442	0
1.18626	2.288022	0
1.19688	2.287609	0
1.20759	2.287204	0
1.2184	2.286806	0
1.22931	2.286415	0
1.24031	2.286031	0
1.25141	2.285654	0
1.26261	2.285283	0
1.27391	2.284919	0
1.28532	2.284561	0
1.29682	2.28421	0
1.30843	2.283865	0
1.32014	2.283525	0
1.33195	2.283192	0
1.34387	2.282864	0
1.3559	2.282542	0
1.36804	2.282225	0
1.38028	2.281914	0
1.39264	2.281608	0
1.4051	2.281307	0
1.41768	2.281011	0
1.43037	2.28072	0
1.44317	2.280434	0
1.45609	2.280152	0
1.46912	2.279875	0
1.48227	2.279603	0
1.49554	2.279335	0
1.50892	2.279071	0
1.52243	2.278812	0
1.53605	2.278557	0
1.5498	2.278306	0
1.56367	2.278058	0
1.57767	2.277815	0
1.59179	2.277575	0
1.60604	2.277339	0
1.62041	2.277107	0
1.63492	2.276878	0
1.64955	2.276653	0
1.66431	2.276431	0
1.67921	2.276212	0
1.69424	2.275997	0
1.7094	2.275785	0
1.7247	2.275575	0
1.74014	2.275369	0
1.75572	2.275166	0
1.77143	2.274965	0
1.78729	2.274768	0
1.80328	2.274573	0
1.81942	2.27438	0
1.83571	2.274191	0
1.85214	2.274003	0
1.86872	2.273819	0
1.88544	2.273636	0
1.90232	2.273456	0
1.91934	2.273278	0
1.93652	2.273103	0
1.95386	2.27293	0
1.97134	2.272758	0
1.98899	2.272589	0
2.00679	2.272422	0
2.02475	2.272256	0
2.04287	2.272093	0
2.06116	2.271931	0
2.07961	2.271771	0
2.09822	2.271613	0
2.117	2.271456	0
2.13595	2.271301	0
2.15507	2.271147	0
2.17436	2.270995	0
2.19382	2.270845	0
2.21345	2.270696	0
2.23326	2.270548	0
2.25325	2.270401	0
2.27342	2.270256	0
2.29377	2.270112	0
2.3143	2.269969	0
2.33501	2.269827	0
2.35591	2.269686	0
2.377	2.269546	0
2.39827	2.269407	0
2.41974	2.26927	0
2.4414	2.269132	0
2.46325	2.268996	0
2.4853	2.268861	0
2.50754	2.268726	0
2.52998	2.268592	0
2.55263	2.268458	0
2.57548	2.268325	0
2.59853	2.268193	0
2.62179	2.268061	0
2.64525	2.26793	0
2.66893	2.267799	0
2.69282	2.267669	0
2.71692	2.267538	0
2.74124	2.267409	0
2.76577	2.267279	0
2.79053	2.267149	0
2.8155	2.26702	0
2.8407	2.266891	0
2.86613	2.266762	0
2.89178	2.266633	0
2.91766	2.266504	0
2.94378	2.266375	0
2.97013	2.266245	0
2.99671	2.266116	0
3.02353	2.265987	0
3.0506	2.265857	0
3.0779	2.265727	0
3.10545	2.265597	0
3.13324	2.265466	0
3.16129	2.265335	0
3.18958	2.265203	0
3.21813	2.265071	0
3.24693	2.264939	0
3.276	2.264806	0
3.30532	2.264672	0
3.3349	2.264538	0
3.36475	2.264403	0
3.39487	2.264267	0
3.42525	2.26413	0
3.45591	2.263993	0
3.48684	2.263855	0
3.51805	2.263715	0
3.54954	2.263575	0
3.58131	2.263434	0
3.61336	2.263292	0
3.6457	2.263148	0
3.67834	2.263003	0
3.71126	2.262858	0
3.74448	2.262711	0
3.77799	2.262562	0
3.81181	2.262412	0
3.84592	2.262261	0
3.88035	2.262108	0
3.91508	2.261954	0
3.95012	2.261799	0
3.98547	2.261641	0
4.02115	2.261482	0
4.05714	2.261321	0
4.09345	2.261159	0
4.13009	2.260994	0
4.16705	2.260828	0
4.20435	2.260659	0
4.24198	2.260489	0
4.27995	2.260317	0
4.31826	2.260142	0
4.35691	2.259965	0
4.3959	2.259786	0
4.43525	2.259605	0
4.47495	2.259421	0
4.515	2.259235	0
4.55541	2.259046	0
4.59618	2.258855	0
4.63732	2.258661	0
4.67883	2.258465	0
4.72071	2.258265	0
4.76296	2.258063	0
4.80559	2.257858	0
4.8486	2.257649	0
4.892	2.257438	0
4.93578	2.257224	0
4.97996	2.257006	0
5.02454	2.256785	0
5.06951	2.25656	0
5.11488	2.256333	0
5.16066	2.256101	0
5.20685	2.255866	0
5.25346	2.255627	0
5.30048	2.255385	0
5.34792	2.255138	0
5.39579	2.254888	0
5.44408	2.254633	0
5.49281	2.254374	0
5.54197	2.254111	0
5.59157	2.253844	0
5.64162	2.253572	0
5.69212	2.253295	0
5.74306	2.253014	0
5.79447	2.252728	0
5.84633	2.252437	0
5.89866	2.252142	0
5.95145	2.251841	0
6.00472	2.251534	0
6.05847	2.251223	0
6.11269	2.250906	0
6.1674	2.250583	0
6.2226	2.250255	0
6.2783	2.249921	0
6.33449	2.24958	0
6.39119	2.249234	0
6.44839	2.248882	0
6.50611	2.248523	0
6.56434	2.248157	0
6.6231	2.247785	0
6.68238	2.247406	0
6.74219	2.24702	0
6.80253	2.246627	0
6.86342	2.246227	0
6.92485	2.245819	0
6.98683	2.245403	0
7.04936	2.24498	0
7.11246	2.244549	0
7.17612	2.244109	0
7.24035	2.243661	0
7.30515	2.243205	0
7.37054	2.24274	0
7.43651	2.242266	0
7.50307	2.241783	0
7.57022	2.24129	0
7.63798	2.240788	0
7.70634	2.240277	0
7.77532	2.239755	0
7.84491	2.239223	0
7.91513	2.23868	0
7.98597	2.238127	0
8.05745	2.237563	0
8.12957	2.236988	0
8.20233	2.236401	0
8.27575	2.235803	0
8.34982	2.235192	0
8.42455	2.23457	0
8.49996	2.233934	0
8.57604	2.233286	0
8.6528	2.232625	0
8.73024	2.23195	0
8.80838	2.231261	0
8.88722	2.230558	0
8.96677	2.229841	0
9.04702	2.229109	0
9.128	2.228362	0
9.2097	2.227599	0
9.29213	2.22682	0
9.3753	2.226025	0
9.45921	2.225213	0
9.54387	2.224384	0
9.6293	2.223537	0
9.71548	2.222672	0
9.80244	2.221789	0
9.89018	2.220887	0
9.9787	2.219966	0
10.068	2.219024	0
10.1581	2.218062	0
10.249	2.217079	0
10.3408	2.216075	0
10.4333	2.215048	0
10.5267	2.213999	0
10.6209	2.212927	0
10.716	2.211831	0
10.8119	2.21071	0
10.9087	2.209564	0
11.0063	2.208392	0
11.1048	2.207194	0
11.2042	2.205968	0
11.3045	2.204714	0
11.4057	2.203432	0
11.5078	2.20212	0
11.6108	2.200777	0
11.7147	2.199403	0
11.8196	2.197997	0
11.9253	2.196558	0
12.0321	2.195085	0
12.1398	2.193576	0
12.2484	2.192032	0
12.3581	2.19045	0
12.4687	2.18883	0
12.5803	2.187171	0
12.6929	2.185471	0
12.8065	2.183729	0
12.9211	2.181944	0
13.0367	2.180114	0
13.1534	2.178238	0
13.2712	2.176315	0
13.3899	2.174344	0
13.5098	2.172321	0
13.6307	2.170247	0
13.7527	2.168119	0
13.8758	2.165935	0
14	2.163694	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: —

ZnS (Zinc sulfide): all datasets

Crystal

Thin film

Amotchkina et al, 2020: n 0.4–14 µm, k 0.4–1.0 µm n,k 0.4–14 µm

Models and simulations

Ozaki and Adachi 1993: Cubic ZnS; n,k 0.221–1.03 µm n,k 0.2214–1.033 µm

About ZnS (Zinc sulfide)

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is a semiconducting material that exhibits either a sphalerite (cubic) or wurtzite (hexagonal) crystal structure. It has a direct bandgap of around 3.68 eV for the cubic form and 3.91 eV for the hexagonal form. Due to its luminescent properties, ZnS has been extensively used in applications like electroluminescent panels, X-ray screens, and phosphorescent materials. Doped ZnS, especially with copper or silver, can produce phosphorescent materials widely used in various displays. ZnS is also employed as a host matrix in many quantum dot applications. Additionally, its infrared transmission capability makes it valuable for infrared optics, and it's frequently used in infrared windows and lenses. Minerals: Sphalerite (mineral of cubic ZnS), Wurtzite (mineral of hexagonal ZnS)

More about ZnS (Zinc sulfide) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/main/ZnS/nk/Amotchkina.yml
ID: ds_4a9440e55021
API: /v1/datasets/ds_4a9440e55021

Plot