What is Dichro Anyway!

Dichroic Glass is composed of several different types of metal oxides much in the same way color rod is. There are two main differences in the creation of color rod and the creation of dichroic. The first is the simple fact that dichroic is not saturated into the glass as a color rod formula is. Dichroic itself is a coating applied to the surface of a clear medium, optical glass.

The second difference is the complexity of the process. In basic terms, the creation of dichroic glass involves applying multiple layers of proprietory metal oxides (between 15-65 layers per sheet) with each layer being only a thickness of two to three milionths of an inch.

To keep uniform results, our dichroic technichians cannot tolerate variance in the thickness of these layers to any degree. Think about how hard that would be! A dichroic layer that is two millionths of an inch cannot vary more than 0.06 millionths of an inch. Mysteriously, the metal oxides are clear and have no inherent color alone. We use no gels, paints, or dyes in this process- only metal oxides.

The secret is in the vaccuum chamber required for high tech coatings of this kind. The air is evacuated from the chamber using a vacuuum deposition pump then the chamber is heated to 300 degrees farenheit. The square 16x16 sheets of clear optical glass, having been internally secured on a rack prior to heating, are spun inside the chamber while a high energy beam vaporizes the metal oxides which then attatch to the glass. This is how our well loved dichroic glass is made.

The name “dichroic” can be broken down to the prefix “di” meaning two and the root “chroic” meaning pertaining to color. This two-color changing glass has been captivating the imagination of artist and collector alike for quite some time now.

When Dichroic Alchemy came out with their exclusive Trichroic(TM) Galaxy Series of coatings they were part of revolutionizing dichroic potentials. As the name implies, there are actually three distinct color changing properties to these incredible coatings. Keep an eye out for the latest dichroic advancements and get involved with further advancements by joining DA's Intensive Research Project.