Optical Components for the Instrument Industry

Imetra offers prisms of the following types:

Materials: Acrylic, Bak4, CaF2, Cubic Zirconia, Fused Silica, Glass, IR material, N-Bk7, Sapphire, ZnSe.
Optical materials used to manufacture prisms are dependent on the type of prism and the wavelength range in which they will be used.

Coatings:
Mirror Coatings
AR Coating for: UV, VIS, NIR near infrared, and SWIR light.

Optical prisms

Optical prisms are solid components fabricated from materials that are transparent to chosen wavelengths. The purpose of a prism it to modify an incoming light beam by changing its direction, rotational angle, or diffraction. Optical prisms are also used to split light beams into different wavelengths, combining or splitting beams with partial reflective surfaces. Another function is to fold light to condense systems into smaller spaces.

The geometry of a prism, including the number of surfaces, the angle, the position, and the material, define the type and the function.

Dispersive prisms separate a beam of white light into it’s component colors. Dispersion prisms are widely used in spectrometers and refractometers and also for laser tuning and beam combining.

Reflective prisms are generally used in imaging systems. These prisms change the direction of the light and reform the orientation of an image. Reflective prisms can reduce the size of an optical system. Optional coatings such as aluminum or silver are added to reflect the light and stop it from passing through the prism.

Sizes:
from 0.1mm – 20mm

Applications: Optical Prisms have applications that include light bending, beam splitting, polarization-splitting, and wavelength separation. They are used in the instrument industry for scientific research, laser technology, and medical purposes.

Lenses

Lenses are transmissive optical devices that focus or disperse light beams. Manufactured from materials such a glass or plastic, the required shape is achieved through molding, grinding, and polishing.

Ball Lens / Half-ball Lens / Hyper-hemispherical Lenses
Ball lenses are completely spherical precision components. Manufactured from a single material, generally an optical glass, chosen for transparency in the chosen wavelength. Ball lenses are made in relatively small diameters.

These lenses are commonly used to increase in fiber coupling. Other uses include objective lenses in endoscopy, laser measurement systems, bar-code scanning and sensor applications.

Half-ball lenses offer a uniform dispersion of light. An advantage of these lenses is that they are compact and easy to mount. They are commonly used in LED displays and LED traffic lights, beam collimators for optical fibers, emitters, and detectors.

Applications: These lenses are commonly used to increase in fiber coupling. Other uses include objective lenses in endoscopy, laser measurement systems, bar-code scanning and sensor applications.

Material:	Size:
Borosilicate	0.50mm – 20mm
Cubic Zirconia	0.20mm – 20mm
Fused Silica	0.30mm – 25.4mm
Ruby	0.127mm – 15mm
Sapphire / Silicon	0.20mm – 25.4mm
Spinelle	0.20mm – 8mm
Zirconia / ZTA	0.20mm – 150mm
N-BK7, N-LasF9
Quartz
Zerodur

Cylindrical Lens
A cylindrical lens is an optical lens with a surface that is curved in one direction. It serves to bend or focus light in a particular direction. Used in laser for marking and inspections systems. Cylindrical lenses are used to focus or expand light in a variety of laser and light-based equipment for applications, such as laser scanning optical metrology systems, laser alignment and inspection tools, laser additive manufacturing and laser processing equipment. Barcode scanning, and optical data storage devices.

Rod Lenses
A rod lens is a variant of optical lens. They direct light to focus a line as the light passes through the side of the rod. The outside face of the lens is polished and the ends are ground. A typical use would be to generate a line image from a circular beam. They can be supplied either mounted or unmounted.

Lens Materials:

Borosilicate – useful for visible and NIR wavelengths
Optical Glass
Ruby
Sapphire
UV grade Fused Silica for applications working in the ultra-violet range down to 185nm.

Applications:

Can be used in beam shaping and to focus collimated light into a line. They also play a key part in laser and imaging optical assemblies.

Light Pipes – Homogenizing Rods

Light pipes are optical components used to transmit light from its source to a different place. In use they direct light or mix light to create a more evenly distributed output beam. They can bend light around corners and tight spaces. They are generally short in length and work with high efficiency. Light pipes are also referred to as homogenizers, integrating rods, or light guides.

There are two basic types: hollow tubes with reflective walls, or solid tubes of transparent material. Vertical or right angle are the basic style choices. Either style can be fabricated as a single unit or multiple units in a variety of shapes including round or rectangular.

Materials: Sapphire, Fused Silica, nBK7.

Shapes: Square, round, rectangular, 6-sided, and 8-sided

Applications: Laser systems, scientific instruments

Optical Windows

Optical Windows are optically transparent surfaces, either flat and plane-parallel or wedged. They are typically designed to maximize transmission in a specified wavelength range, while minimizing reflections and absorption. They act as protective barriers for sensors and other electronic and optical instruments from environmental factors such as dust, moisture, and contaminants.

Materials: Borosilicate, Calcium Fluoride, Crystal Quartz, Magnesium Fluoride, N-BK7, Sapphire, Silicon, Sodalime Glass, UV Fused Silica, Zinc Selenide

Size: from 1mm

Shapes: Round, rectangular

Coatings: Optional AR coating can be applied to ensure maximum transmission performance for a particular wavelength.

Applications: Wide range of uses including medical, scientific, and optical instruments, industrial manufacturing, research, lasers, and sensors.