The raw materials for the production of optical glass are oxides, hydroxides, nitrates and carbonates, and phosphates or fluorides are introduced according to the requirements of the formulation. In order to ensure the transparency of the glass, must strictly control the content of colored impurities, such as iron, chromium, copper, manganese, cobalt, nickel and so on. Ingredients require accurate weighing, uniform mixing. The main production process is melting, forming, annealing and testing.

①Melting a single crucible intermittent melting method and the pool kiln (see kiln) continuous melting method. Single crucible melting method can be divided into clay crucible melting method and platinum crucible melting method. No matter what kind of smelting methods are required to stir with a stirrer, and strictly control the temperature and stirring, so that the optical glass glass to achieve a high degree of uniformity. Clay crucible can smelt most of the coronal glass and flint glass, low cost, and the glass melting temperature exceeds the use of platinum temperature. Platinum crucibles can be melted high quality, the clay crucible has a serious erosion of the glass, such as re-crown, heavy barium flint, rare earth glass and fluorophosphate glass. Platinum crucible with electric heating, the general use of silicon carbide rods or silicon molybdenum rod electric furnace. But the manufacture of crystallization tendency, requiring rapid cooling and the atmosphere has certain requirements of the glass, you can use high-frequency heating.

Since the 1960s, countries have been using platinum-based continuous pool kiln smelting, so that the production of optical glass greatly improved, quality Ye Hao, which is the current optical glass production process development of the main trends.

②Forming optical glass molding method has a classical crusher method, rolling method and casting method, but more and more widely used leakage material molding (with a single crucible or even melt flow liquid), can directly pull rod or drop pressure Type or leakage of large-size blanks, to improve the utilization of feed and yield.

③Annealing In order to minimize the internal stress of the glass and improve the optical uniformity, a strict annealing system must be developed for precise annealing.

④Test indicators are: optical constant, optical uniformity, stress birefringence, stripes, bubbles and so on.