Transparent Ceramics Market Size, Share, and COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Nature (Crystalline and Non-Crystalline), By Material (ALON, Sapphire, YAG, Spinel, and Others), By End-use (Healthcare, Aerospace & Defense, Consumer Goods, Medical, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

Transparent ceramics belong to the advanced class of ceramics, which has a combination of mechanical & transmission properties. They can be used in a wide range of optically transparent materials. They are used in laser amplifiers, laser cutting tools, optical & optoelectronic components, scintillators, optical switches, optical domes, optical fiber for guided light wave transmission, IR heat seeking devices for missile guidance systems, and night vision. They exhibit many physical and mechanical properties such as lightweight nature, thermal stability, resistance to thermal shock, low heat storage, and anti-corrosion.

High strength, durability, lightweight nature, and resistance to heat and chemicals make transparent ceramics suitable for aerospace & defense applications. Increasing need from the military sector for high strength material, which can transmit light around the visible and mid infrared region of the spectrum for transparent armor is driving the market. Moreover, increasing expenditure of several countries on their defense systems is likely to create a positive impact on the market.

With rising demand for advanced ammunition and defense equipment, transparent ceramics are in high demand. For instance, single-crystal sapphire is the current material of choice for high-speed infrared-guided missile domes.

• At ambient temperature, sapphire's optical transmission does not extend throughout the entire mid-infrared region (3–5 m), but it begins to drop down at wavelengths larger than about 4.5 m. While sapphire is stronger than other existing mid-range infrared dome materials at room temperature, it begins to deteriorate above 600°C.


• Researchers at the International Advanced Research Center for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) created magnesium aluminate spinel ceramics using colloidal processing and the HIP technique, which involves applying temperature and pressure simultaneously. Spinel is gaining popularity as a transparent ceramic due to its exceptional optical qualities of transmission – more than 75% in the visible region and more than 80% in the infrared. It also has 200 megapascal strength and hardness of more than 13 gigapascal.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Transparent Ceramics Market

Due to halt in production activities owing to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by governments, the transparent ceramics market growth experienced a downturn. Due to restrictions on production and trade activities as well as irregularity in supply chain for raw materials, the market was heavily impacted.

Key Insights

The report covers the following key insights:

• Regulatory scenario of transparent ceramics


• Key development of transparent ceramics


• Government initiatives to promote transparent ceramics


• Impact of COVID-19 on the market

Analysis by Material

On the basis of material, the market is segmented into, ALON, sapphire, YAG, spinel, and others.

• Night-vision goggles and IR-optics, such as domes, lenses, and sensor windows, are made with spinel and ALON. Transparent materials are used to make bar-code reader windows and bar-code readers.


• Sapphire is the most commonly used material to synthesize transparent ceramics.

Regional Analysis

The global transparent ceramics market has been studied across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific has the dominant transparent ceramics market share attributed to the rising demand from the defense sector. North America is one of the key markets for transparent ceramic materials due to high expenditure on the defense sector. Europe is expected to show moderate growth attributed to the growth in the aerospace sector. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are projected to register a comparatively higher CAGR by the end of the estimated period.

• Transparent ceramics, despite being produced in a variety of locations around the world, are in short supply as they can be employed for strategic purposes.

Key Players Covered

The report includes the profiles of key players such as Kyocera Corporation, Saint Gobain, CeraNova Corporation, II-VI Optical Systems, Surmet Corporation, General Electric, SCHOTT, and others.

Segmentation

Key Industry Development

• In March 2017, German Electron Synchrotron DESY and a group of researchers created a transparent disc of silicon nitride, which is relatively cheap, ultra-hard, and can withstand a temperature of 1,400°C.