Chemistry in a Work of Art - Light Spectra by Bev Precious

Light Spectra by Bev Precious, an aluminum and dichroic glass sculpture in the foyer of the chemistry building at UW-Madison (photo by Jeff Miller)

The first thing a visitor might see upon entering the foyer of the chemistry building at UW-Madison is a brilliant aluminum and dichroic glass sculpture suspended overhead. "Light Spectra" was created in 2001 by American sculpture Bev Precious who used the interplay of metal and dichroic glass to create an eye-catching work of art.

The creation of dichroic glass involves a process called electron beam physical vapor deposition, where 10,000 V of electricity are concentrated in an electron beam and vaporizes a mixture of quartz and metal oxides of titanium, chromium, aluminum, zirconium, or magnesium. This mixture vapor is eventually deposited onto a glass surface and can be applied a layer at a time. Layer thicknesses are precisely controlled to allow multiple colors to be produced on the same glass.

Image from Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Here is a cool video, produced by a company called Coatings By Sandberg, showing how dichroic glass is made.

Geodesic pattern glass from CBS

Dichroic glass has the special property of transmitting light of one color and reflecting light in a different color. Hence as you walk around a dichroic sculpture, you would see different colors evolve at different angles of observation.