Transparent Aluminum: "Star Trek" Prediction Comes True

Right out of Star Trek comes an entirely new substance with phenomenal properties. It's light, it's transparent like glass, yet unbelievably it can stop a 50-caliber armor-piercing bullet. Such a bullet, if it misses its target, can travel miles and still kill a person. It can blow bullet-proof glass to pieces. Such weaponry is used along the U.S. and Mexico border by drug cartels.¹ What is the amazing material I am speaking about that is so superior to bullet-proof glass? It's a ceramic alloy made of aluminum, oxygen, and nitrogen with traces of other materials that has been undergoing evaluation by the U.S. military for use as the latest in transparent armor.

Star Trek - The Amazing "Prophecy"

Well, then, how does Star Trek come into the picture? In "Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home" (1986) a number of humpback whales must be transported through space, yet the crew of the Starship Enterprise haven't sufficient money to pay for a container to hold the whales, so "Scotty" makes a deal with a plastics supplier, offering them in exchange their formula for "transparent aluminum."

Lo and behold, although not quite the same thing, transparent alumina, an oxide derivative of aluminum, was first produced in 2002 by a German ceramic lab-Institut für Keramische Technologien und Sinterwerkstoffen (Frauenhofer).² It should be mentioned that it is not surprising aluminum would be part of an exceptionally hard material and even transparent, since both rubies and sapphires, two corundum gemstones, have large amounts of aluminum in them and they are among the hardest materials on earth.

The Properties and Manufacture of "Transparent Aluminum"

Aluminum oxy-nitride is an ordinary-looking white powder. How does it become a transparent, glass-like material? Rather than discuss that here, I reference this one-page article that describes its manufacture and provides photographs of the process in various stages. I recommend you download a copy of it. Good photos of aluminum oxy-nitride "glass" are scarcer than hen's teeth. You will find it here. American Elements is marketing high-purity raw material under the name ALONIDE. Processed aluminum oxy-nitride is marketed under the name ALON, and is covered by US Patent 4, 520, 116.

Bullet-proof glass such as is seen on armored cars is made by sandwiching two pieces of glass around a polycarbonate inner layer. This composite glass is thick and it is heavy. Aluminum oxy-nitride armor consists of three layers with the oxy-nitride on the outside, followed by a layer of glass, then an inside polymer backing. All three layers make up a lighter and stronger "window."¹

Will We Ever See ALON^™ Transparent Armor On the Market?

So if it's so superior, why has this material and its protective armor capabilities not been employed already? Largely, it is a matter of cost. Such transparent armor costs four to five times as much as standard bullet proof glass. However, since the ceramic does last longer, it may well be the material of choice and application in the not too distant future. Then, the Star Trek reference to Transparent Aluminum may become as well established in society as did the wrist-radio of Dick Tracy.

¹ http://science.howstuffworks.com/transparent-aluminum-armor.htm/printable

² The Mineralogy of Star Trek by Jeffrey de Fourestier