Crystals and optics processing services

MgF2 or Magnesium Fluoride is positive uni-axial crystal with a very high optical transmittance from the vacuum UV to IR. It is regularly used for optical elements where extreme ruggedness and durability is required. It also has a large resistance to mechanical and thermal shock, to optical radiation, and is chemically stable, making it a very useful materials for UV and IR optics.

Ti:Sapphire crystal is the most widely used tunable solid-state laser material combining the supreme physical and optical properties with the extremely broad lasing range. Its lasing bandwidth can support pulses < 10fs making it the crystal of choice for femtosecond mode-locked oscillators and amplifiers. The absorption band of Ti:Sapphire centers at ~ 490 nm so it may be conveniently pumped by various laser sources such as argon ion lasers or frequency doubled Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF, Nd:YVO4 lasers at ~530nm. Laser designers are using Ti:sapphire to generate femtosecond pulses to create new industrial tools. A properly delivered femtosecond laser pulse interacts within the target leaving the surrounding area undisturbed. Newly developed femtosecond pulsed lasers micro-machine complex fine structures in glass, metal and other materials. Active waveguides can be written below the surface, integrating optical devices within the body of a substrate. Defects in photomasks can be repaired without disturbing neighbouring patterns. And it is now possible to achieve cellular resolution in vivo for medical diagnosis with femtosecond pulse lasers.

ZnSe is used widely for IR components, windows and lenses, and applied for Thermal Imaging, FLIR,  Medical systems and Co2 Laser Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) Windows are ideal for a wide variety of infrared applications including thermal imaging, FLIR, and medical systems.

Achromatic Lenses are used to minimize or eliminate chromatic aberration. The achromatic design also helps minimize spherical aberrations. Achromatic Lenses are ideal for a range of applications, including fluorescence microscopy, image relay, inspection, or spectroscopy. Achromatic Lenses, which are often designed by either cementing two elements together or mounting the two elements in a housing, create smaller spot sizes than comparable singlet lenses.

In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. At least two of the flat surfaces must have an angle between them. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use "prism" usually refers to this type. Some types of optical prism are not in fact in the shape of geometric prisms. Prisms can be made from any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they are designed.

Penta Prisms are used to define right angles in optical systems. Penta Prisms, which provide right handed images,feature a ray deviation of 90°. Penta Prisms are five-sided prisms are unaffected by slight movements. HG OPTRONICS offers a variety of Penta Prisms for optimal performance in the Ultraviolet (UV), Visible, or Infrared (IR) spectrums.  

The Positive Meniscus Lenses are a convex-concave lens, but it is thicker at the center than at the edges. They are felt polished and are used universally in the ophthalmic industry where convention dictates that lens power be specified in Diopters. The Negative Meniscus Lenses are a convex-concave lens, but it is thinner at the center than at the edges. Otherwise description is similar to Plano Concave lenses.  

α-BBO (α-BaB2O4) is a negative uniaxial crystal which has large birefringence over a broad transparent range of 190nm to 3500nm. α-BBO is an excellent crystal especially in UV and high power applications. The physical, chemical, thermal, and optical properties of alpha-BBO crystal are similar to those of Beta-BBO. However, there is no second order nonlinear effect in alpha-BBO crystal due to the centrosymmetry in its crystal structure and thus it has no use for second order nonlinear optical processes. Instead, alpha-BBO is widely used for fabrication of polarizers, polarizing beam displacers, phase retarders, birefringent plates, and time delay compensators especially those for UV and high power lasers.