Silvering

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Silvering

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Silvering is the chemical process of coating a non-conductive substrate such as glass with a reflective substance, to produce a mirror. While the metal is often silver, the term is used for the application of any reflective metal. Most common household mirrors are "back-silvered" or "second-surface", meaning that the light reaches the reflective layer after passing through the glass. A protective layer of paint is usually applied to protect the back side of the reflective surface . This arrangement protects the fragile reflective layer from corrosion, scratches, and other damage. However, the glass layer may absorb some of the light and cause distortions and optical aberrations due to refraction at the front surface, and multiple additional reflections on it, giving rise to "ghost images" (although some optical mirrors such as Mangins, take advantage of it). Therefore, precision optical mirrors normally are "front-silvered" or "first-surface", meaning that the reflective layer is on the surface towards the incoming light. The substrate normally provides only physical support, and need not be transparent. A hard, protective, transparent overcoat may be applied to prevent oxidation of the reflective layer and scratching of the metal. Front-coated mirrors achieve reflectivities of 90–95% when new.