Sparkly Dichroic Glass History

Dichroic glass is the most amazingly sparkly glass an artist can buy. There are so many different combinations of colors you can create just from 3 or 4 different pieces of dichroic glass! Dichroic glass comes in transparent and opaque colors.  The benefits of transparent glass is the ability to layer different tints of dichroic glass to create entirely new colors and patterns.  Placing different colors of compatible fused glass beneath the dichroic glass will create a different result too.  When I say compatible, I mean that we are using only 90 COE glass with 90 COE dichroic glass.  Never mix any other coe, like coe96 or coe104 because they are rated differently and could cause your piece to explode in the kiln.  Always keep your glass carefully separated or just stick to one COE to prevent disasters.  Coe 90 has the most choices of colors and patterns in fusing glass and dichroic glass.

Dichroic glass is loaded with depth, sparkle and beauty. It constantly changes colors as it reflects and moves within the light. I utilized red dichroic glass as a ball of fire in the fused glass dragon pendant listed here: http://bit.ly/hYtPVI. It really gave this piece the look of fire that I was going for! In addition, the red dichroic fused glass utilized in the this dichoric fused glass dragon photo looks red when you are looking at it straight on, but shifts to gold when tilted slightly:http://etsy.me/fdz3r4. I was thrilled how the dichroic fused glass really gave these red dragon pendants the extra edge!

Dichroic glass is also referred to as "Dicro" glass.  I did some digging to find out the origins of this sparkly and magnificent glass!

The first and oldest man-made type of dichroic glass uses metals, such as gold and silver, that are evenly mixed throughout the glass to form a type of colloidal dispersion called a "solid sol". The metal particles are so small (5 - 200 nanometers) and so well dispersed throughout the glass, that on inspection, the glass appears completely homogeneous and monochromatic. A truly amazing example of this type of dichroic glass is the Lycurgus Cup. The Lycurgus Cup was created in the 4th century AD in Italy. In reflected light the glass appears green. In transmitted light the glass appears red. Check out the picture in my blog, I was amazed! http://idesignstudioss.blogspot.com.

The second and more recent type of dichroic glass uses a vacuum deposition process to add layers of various metallic oxides on top of the glass. This is what most people think of as dichroic glass.

The history of this second type of dichroic glass dates back to the 1950's and 1960's when NASA, defense contractors and the Department of Defense developed this high-tech material for use as optical filters. They were also looking for a solution for a shield against cosmic radiation and many other uses. For example, the golden sheen on an astronaut's face shield is a dichroic coating meant to protect against the harsh glare of natural and obviously unfiltered sunlight.

So now you know a little more! I thought it was pretty fascinating, especially after learning how far back dichroic glass dates!!