Eur. Phys. J. C (2007) 52: 759-764
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-007-0431-3

Special Article - Tools for Experiment and Theory

Refractive index dispersion law of silica aerogel

Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca and INFN, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126, Milano, Italy

^* e-mail: tito.bellunato@cern.ch

Received: 31 July 2007
Revised: 7 September 2007
Published online: 26 September 2007

Abstract

This paper presents measurements of the refractive index of a hygroscopic silica aerogel block at several wavelengths. The measurements, performed with a monochromator, have been compared with different parameterisations for n(λ), in order to determine the best chromaticity law for the aerogel. This is an important input for design and operation of RICH detectors with silica aerogel radiator.