Transparent Aluminum - YES, but a ceramic.

Remember the 1986 movie scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Scotty (James Doohan) discloses the formula for transparent Aluminum?

Well, Surmet Corporation in Burlington, MA has developed ALON® Optical Ceramic, a transparent Aluminum based ceramic for armor, that is as strong as sapphire.
http://t.co/yqN0BsWhy6

ALON® is an amazing new advanced ceramic that is based on a composition of aluminum oxy nitride with a cubic spinel crystal structure. It is hard, durable, and transparent in the near ultra violet, visible and near infrared wavelength of light.
http://www.surmet.com/technology/alon-optical-ceramics/index.php

Surmet is a supplier of ALON® optical windows, domes, plates, rods and tubes for advanced applications. Fabricated ALON® products combine superior mechanical and optical properties matching those of sapphire with the added advantages of an isotropic cubic crystal structure.
ALON® is an ideal material for applications requiring high strength light-weight durability and transparency in the face of world's most demanding environments.

ALON® Optical Ceramic
Optically transparent from the near ultra violet to the near infrared wavelength (0.25 to 4.6 microns)
Excellent clarity
Total absence of birefringence
Outstanding hardness and high strength
Low internal stress
Available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and thicknesses
Produced using proven ceramic forming processes
Readily scaled up to high volumes
Cost effective advanced material solution
Applicable to a wide variety of industries including aerospace, security, defense and Semiconductor, Energy and consumer products.

 

"You realize if we give them the formula we're altering the future...?"

"Why? How do'ya know he didn't INVENT the thing?"

 

Somehow you captured the accent in print

 

Think they can do Rearden Metal next?