Interesting History Of Dichoric Fused Glass!

Dichroic Fused glass pendants and A Brief History of Dichroic Glass
The most amazingly sparkly glass an artist can buy is called dichroic glass. I love working with this glass, you can layer it to form so many different color combos it boggles the mind! Placing different colors of fused glass beneath the dichroic glass will create a different result too. Here is an example of my dichroic glass pendants!

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 first fused glass dragon pendant above. It really gave this piece the look of fire that I was going for! In addition, the red dichroic fused glass utilized in the lower dichoric fused glass dragon photo looks red when you are looking at it straight on, but shifts to gold when tilted slightly. I was thrilled how the dichroic fused glass really gave these red dragon pendants the extra edge!

I know many of you are familiar with dichroic glass or "dichro" as it is commonly shortened down to, but do you know the history of it?

Where did dichroic glass come from:

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 pic below, I was amazed!

Lycurgus Cup - example of dichroism

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!!