Although synthetic barium fluoride has been commonly known from at least 1846, it had not been found in nature.

The natural existence of barium fluoride was predicted by Michael Fleischer in 1970.

Its optical properties are intermediate to calcium fluoride and barium fluoride.

Barium fluoride is used for optics in infrared applications because of its wide transparency range of 0.15-12 micrometers.

Barium fluoride is used as a preopacifying agent and in enamel and glazing frits production.

Posicam used barium fluoride for the scintillation detector and was primarily used by researchers interested in cardiac imaging.

Barium fluoride (BaF2) detectors can be used to observe gamma-rays with a time resolution of the order of 100 picoseconds.

Barium fluoride is also a common, very fast (one of the fastest) scintillator for the detection of X-rays, gamma rays or other high energy particles.

For example barium metal and fluorine gas will combine in a highly exothermic reaction to form the salt barium fluoride:

Barium fluoride (BaF) is a chemical compound of barium and fluorine and is a salt.

Frankdicksonite is a halide mineral with the chemical formula BaF which corresponds to the chemical compound barium fluoride.