Double-Side Polishing Fused Silica Wafers: Fused Silica (CTE 0.55 x 10^-6 /K, 185 nm – 2.5 um); Double-Side Polishing to TTV under 3 um. Single-piece prototypes to production volumes, quoted from your drawing.
The combination of Fused Silica and Double-Side Polishing comes up constantly in RFQs for a reason – the material offers deep-uv transmission, and Double-Side Polishing is the right way to get accurate geometry into it. Expect TTV under 3 um and 60/40 to 20/10 both faces.
The numbers
| Material | Fused Silica (JGS1 (UV), JGS2 (standard), JGS3 (IR)) |
|---|---|
| Thermal expansion (CTE) | 0.55 x 10^-6 /K |
| Service temperature | 1,100 C continuous |
| Transmission range | 185 nm – 2.5 um |
| Density | 2.20 g/cm3 |
| Knoop hardness | 500 kg/mm2 |
| Refractive index | 1.458 @ 587 nm |
| Stock thickness | 0.10 – 50 mm |
| Maximum blank size | 450 x 450 mm |
| Process | Double-Side Polishing |
| Working tolerance | TTV under 3 um |
| Minimum feature | Ra below 0.5 nm both faces |
| Surface finish | 60/40 to 20/10 both faces |
| Thickness window | 0.1 – 10 mm |
| Edge condition | edge-rounded before DSP |
| Wafer formats | 2", 3", 4", 6", 8" and 12" with SEMI flats or notch |
| TTV | under 3 – 5 um by format |
| RFQ inputs | PDF/DXF/STEP drawing, quantity brackets, surface and edge spec |
Getting the drawing right
The shop-floor rules that matter here:
- Material note: its hardness and brittleness demand diamond tooling and controlled feeds.
- Process boundary: parts must be round or near-round; strongly asymmetric outlines wedge in the carriers.
- Over-specification is the quiet budget killer: a 20/10 scratch-dig face costs roughly three times an 80/50 face, so grade each surface individually.
For the complete framework, see the tolerance design guide and the holes and edges design guide.
What the process holds
Double-Side Polishing earns its place through wafer-grade parallelism and sub-nanometer roughness on both faces simultaneously. Its boundary condition – parts must be round or near-round; strongly asymmetric outlines wedge in the carriers – is the first thing our DFM review checks.
Beyond this page, Fused Silica routinely runs through ultrasonic machining, cnc machining, drilling, edge grinding in our shop – most real parts combine two or three of these steps.
Application context
The recurring buyers of double-side polishing fused silica wafers: machine vision (camera windows, ring-light diffusers, calibration plates); medical diagnostics (flow cells, slides, microplate bottoms, cuvette windows); laboratory instruments (cuvettes, sight glasses, stir-cell windows). Background reading on the underlying material science: RP Photonics: fused silica.
The fastest route to a quote is geometry: use the 3D builder below, draw a dimensioned 2D drawing from it, or open the site-wide custom glass machining 3D + 2D builder for fully custom parts.
Related reading on this site: wafer dicing process, fused silica wafer applications, CCD screening plates.
Common questions
What equipment runs the double-side polishing work?
Planetary double-side polishers with carrier plates.
Is there a minimum order for double-side polishing fused silica wafers?
No. Single prototypes are accepted, and pricing steps down at 10, 100 and 1,000 pieces.
How fast can prototypes ship?
Machined prototypes ship in 5 – 10 working days. Coated or bonded parts add 1 – 2 weeks depending on queue slots.
What files do you need for a quote?
A dimensioned PDF plus DXF or STEP geometry. If only a sketch exists, our drawing review service formalizes it before quoting.
Do parts ship with inspection data?
Dimensional reports, surface certificates and material certs per melt are available; specify the level on the RFQ.
Specifications on this page were last reviewed by our engineering team in September 2026.