What is the difference between Protected Aluminum, Enhanced Aluminum, UV Enhanced Aluminum, Protected Gold, and Protected Silver?

Edmund Optics offers mirrors with a variety of metallic mirror coatings. Each coating is optimized for a particular spectral region, so care must be used to select a coating that best meets the wavelength, durability, and cost demands of one's application. Protected Aluminum is our most popular mirror coating for applications in the visible and near-Infrared. Enhanced Aluminum is ideal for applications requiring increased reflectance from 400nm-650nm while UV Enhanced Aluminum yields increased reflectance from 250nm-400nm. Protected Gold is effective for applications requiring high reflectance in the near-Infrared and Infrared regions. Protected Silver offers excellent reflectivity in the visible and infrared regions, making it an excellent choice for broadband applications that span multiple spectra. For all these coatings, the theoretical reflectance rises gradually through 10μm.