Custom-Made Plano Convex Lens for Collimator Optical Systems

1. Material

• Core Substrate: Precision-engineered optical glass (e.g., BK7, Fused Silica, N-BK10) or specialized crystals (ZnSe, Ge) for IR applications.

• Coatings: Custom Anti-Reflection (AR) coatings optimized for target wavelengths (UV-VIS-NIR/MIR), minimizing reflection losses (<0.5% per surface).

2. Key Properties

• Surface Accuracy: λ/10 to λ/2 surface flatness (plano side) and λ/4 to λ/10 wavefront distortion (convex side).

• Precision Tolerances: Tight control on focal length (±1%), center thickness (±0.02mm), diameter (+0/-0.025mm), and centration (<1 arcmin).

• Low Aberration: Minimized spherical aberration via optimized convex curvature.

• Laser Damage Threshold: High LIDT (>5 J/cm² @ 1064nm) for laser collimators.

• Thermal Stability: Low CTE materials (e.g., Fused Silica) for temperature-sensitive environments.

3. Primary Function

• Beam Collimation: Transforms diverging light (from point sources like LEDs, lasers, or fiber optics) into a parallel beam with minimal divergence.

• Wavefront Control: Maintains phase uniformity across the collimated beam.

• Focal Length Matching: Precisely engineered to pair with light sources at specific working distances.

4. Critical Applications

• Laser Collimators:

  • Alignment systems (construction, astronomy).

  • LiDAR modules for autonomous vehicles.

  • Laser cutting/engraving beam delivery.

• Fiber Optic Communications: Collimating output from SMF/MMF fibers.

• Interferometry & Metrology: Creating reference wavefronts.

• Spectral Analysis: Illumination in spectrometers.

• Medical Devices: Endoscope illumination, OCT systems.

• Defense/Aerospace: Targeting systems, IR countermeasures.