Acrylic plastic viewports/spheres are often used in submersibles. Jerry D. Stachiw in his book Acrylic plastic viewports presented a experimental spherical (non-conical) viewport design made out of a special type of ceramics that could go deeper (more than 10000m as far as I can remember). What is the present status of the research in this area of transparent materials for non-conical view-ports/spherical hulls ? (Note: question corrected after first answer)
The current full ocean depth viewports are acrylic conical frustums. The "Five Deeps" expedition is currently sending the Triton-design boat The special ceramic materials that were attempted in earlier systems, like the Trieste, did not have the critical ductility to maintain a seal. Slight imperfections in the mating surfaces allowed leaks at unpredictable depths, and once a leak starts you have to abort the dive.
Bart Kemper thank you for the answer and the information. I have checked out the company's website. It seems technology has developed a lot in this sense.
I have a picture of the window used in the "Five Deeps" boat. It is acrylic. Its the bottom image of the page. http://www.kempereng.com/archives/1187
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