Characterization of Cubic Zirconia as a Lens Material Suitable for Autonomous Driving

As the development of autonomous driving technology is now in full swing, the demand for miniaturized optical modules mounted on various sensors has increased. Particularly, the optical lens used for such autonomous driving must demonstrate stable performance and durability despite rapid changes in the external environment. In this regard, cubic zirconia (CZ) can be used as an optical lens due to its high refractive index, which is above 2.1 in visible and near-infrared wavelengths, along with its chemical and mechanical durability. Thus, in this paper, we investigated the temperature-dependent physical properties of CZ fabricated by the skull melting method. The temperature coefficient of the refractive index (dn/dT) of the fabricated CZ plate in the temperature range of 25–100 °C decreased from 9.76 × 10−5/K to 7.00 × 10−5/K as the wavelength increased from 447.0 nm to 785.0 nm. The estimated Abbe number decreased from 33.98 at 25 °C to 33.12 at 100 °C, while the measured coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was 9.91 × 10−6/K, which revealed that the dn/dT value of the CZ plate was more affected by the dispersion than by the CTE. In addition, the CZ samples with a high refractive index, coated with a dielectric multilayer showed a high average transmittance of 98.2% at the investigated wavelengths, making it suitable for miniaturization or wide-angle optical lens modules. To secure the durability required for automobile lenses, the variation in the surface profile of the CZ before and after the external impact was also analyzed, revealing much better performance than TAF glass. Therefore, the observed results demonstrate that the CZ material is suitable for use as an optical lens for autonomous vehicles.