Application of chemical etching at processing of crystals of Iceland spar

Abstract

Iceland spar is the main material of various kinds of optical parts, which are cut from. defect-free parts of natural crystals. The quality of crystals is determined after cutting them into plates by applying mechanical grinding and polishing of the cutting planes. Since most of the crystals contain one or another defect, most of the work on mechanical processing of plates is wasted. In addition, sawing crystals and their parts blindly (in most cases, the surface quality of crystals does not allow even tentatively identify defect-free areas) leads to the loss of valuable material.