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Infraredplastic

Avantier produces a wide range of high quality infrared optics, including infrared lenses, prisms, windows, mirrors, and laser and imaging assemblies. Our state-of-the-art equipment allows us to achieve unparalleled precision and surface quality, and every piece we manufacture is subject to stringent quality controls.

Such behavior with a relatively sharp infrared absorption edge is typical; it results from multiphonon absorption. This process sets in where the photon energy is only a small multiple of the maximum phonon energy, so that the energy of a photon can be converted to that of a few phonons. For shorter optical wavelengths (higher photon energies), such processes have higher orders (i.e., involve more phonons) and rapidly become very weak. Equally, it helps if the material is chosen such that it has low phonon energies, i.e., relatively slow vibrations of its lattice. Typically, that is the case for materials with relatively heavy constituents. At the same time, such materials often exhibit a small band gap energy, which results in strong absorption for shorter wavelengths: both edges of the transparency range are shifted towards longer wavelengths. As a result, such materials often exhibit strong absorption in the visible spectral region. Some of them look yellow or orange due to absorption only in the blue region, while others are even completely opaque.

Infrared transparent materialslist

Further, our infrared windows can be used at 0.75 μm to 20 μm and our infrared lenses are suitable in a wide spectral range from 700 nm to 20000 nm. Infrared domes are suitable for 3 μm to 12 μm. AR coating options include broadband anti-reflection coatings (BBAR), long-pass anti-reflection coatings and hard diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating for application in harsh environments.

He Rui Optics offers infrared optics based on a wide range of materials, with diameters from 0.2 mm to 300 mm and with different surface quality standards.

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Unfortunately, some of the materials used for infrared optics are quite toxic. Examples are cadmium tellurite, lead telluride, and various arsenic compounds. During use of the optics, this is normally not a hazard, since the toxic substances are firmly bound in the material. However, they can be problematic when devices are not properly disposed after the end of their use cycle.

Infrared transparent materialschart

EKSMA Optics has substrates and finished optical components – windows, lenses and mirrors made from lithium fluoride (LiF), calcium fluoride (CaF2), barium fluoride (BaF2), sapphire (Al2O3), zinc selenide (ZnSe) and germanium (Ge) for laser and optical instruments applications in the infrared wavelength range.

Is silicontransparenttoinfrared

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LightMachinery has extensive expertise in the manufacturing and testing of infrared optics based on zinc selenide, zinc sulfide and germanium optics for CO2 lasers, e.g. in the form of mirrors, lenses and rhomb retarders. In addition, we have a thorough understanding of the importance of high damage threshold coatings for our laser customers.

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Infrared materials can be (mono)crystalline, glasses, semiconductors or metals. Some typical materials used for infrared optics are described in the following:

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It is important to have a wide range of such materials, since various properties need to be considered for applications:

Many optical materials which are transparent in the visible optical range also exhibit good transparency in the near infrared, but not for longer wavelengths (mid and far infrared).

What istransparenttoinfraredlight

Shalom EO offers a wide range of infrared optics – not only singlet IR optical lenses, IR optical windows and IR domes, but also lens modules designed for MWIR (3-5 μm) and LWIR (8-12 μm) thermal imaging cameras. A variety of specific infrared optical materials are available: germanium, zinc selenide (ZnSe), zinc sulfide (ZnS), chalcogenide glass, silicon, sapphire and fluoride (CaF2, BaF2, MgF2 and LiF). Our fabrication techniques include conventional polishing and diamond turning. Moreover, multiple types of modules with flat, spherical and aspherical optical surfaces are optional for different requirements. Referring to the thermal imaging lenses, Hangzhou Shalom EO offers standard lenses and hundreds of custom free-designed lens modules (e.g. athermalized lenses, fisheye lenses, single FOV, dual FOV, zoom lenses).

Vortex Optical Coatings design and manufacture infrared filters for the most demanding and complex applications. We cover the band from 1–6 microns.

Ecoptik manufactures precision infrared optical devices based on germanium, silicon, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide and other materials. Customized high-precision and complex optical devices, including short-wave infrared optical devices of many kinds can be made. Feel free to contact us!

UltraFast Innovations (UFI®) offers a varied selection of broadband infrared mirrors designed for ultrafast laser systems. For example, we provide mirrors for thulium- and holmium-based systems operating in the 2-μm spectral region, Cr:ZnS systems around 2.4 μm and Cr:ZnSe for 3.2 μm. Such mirrors can be provided with precise control of chromatic dispersion.

Infrared imaging and vision applications also rely on infrared optics. Infrared viewers often work only in the near-IR region, while thermography (thermal imaging) needs to be done at rather long wavelengths, unless the temperatures of the observed objects are high. Examples of applications areas are security imaging, machine vision and defense (e.g. guided missiles).

IRtransparentplastic

Frequently used infrared optical elements include lenses (also achromatic ones), mirrors, beam splitters, prisms, optical filters, optical windows and polarizers. Those may be supplied separately or as parts of more complex optical assemblies.

Infrared materials

OPTOMAN employs IBS technology to manufacture dispersive mirrors made for mid-IR (2 – 6 µm). Broadband dispersive and low GDD mirrors for mid-IR range can reduce or even completely eliminate the need to use combinations of various bulk materials to compensate dispersion.

UM Optics is the biggest optics supplier in China. We supply CaF2, BaF2, MgF2, LiF material covering the VUV to IR spectrum. We can also deliver cut blanks, polished lens, drilled windows, spherical lenses, aspheric lenses, galvo scanning mirrors, prisms, cylindrical lenses and mirrors in very large quantities at best price. UM Optics also grows silicon material in optical grade and supplies optics like silicon wafers, mirrors, AR-coated lenses, and prisms. We are also good at ZnSe/ZnS/Ge IR material optics.

Many optical elements and systems need to work with infrared light – sometimes in addition to visible light, but often in the infrared spectrum region only. Some are made as laser line optics for specific wavelengths, while others work in wide wavelength ranges. Particularly for components operated at relatively long wavelengths (mid and far infrared), the term infrared optics is common. Even longer wavelength regions e.g. for terahertz radiation are usually considered to be outside the area of infrared optics.

We offer IR optics in germanium, silicon, ZnSe, ZnS, BaF2, MgF2 or chalcogenide glass – lenses, prisms and windows. We do on demand manufacturing.

IRtransparentglass

Knight Optical can offer a variety of stock and custom infrared optics, such as lenses, windows, prisms and filters. We can provide these in a wide range of different materials including germanium, silicon, zinc selenide, calcium fluoride, sapphire, magnesium fluoride, zinc sulphide. Our custom infrared optics include aspheric lenses, filters working in the IR wavelengths, and coatings optimised for the different thermal wavebands, as well as diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings for extra durability of a surface.

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Edmund Optics offers a wide range of infrared optics, using materials like aluminum, calcium fluoride, fused silica, germanium, magnesium fluoride, sapphire, silicon, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide and other infrared materials.

Infrared optics are required for certain lasers emitting at long wavelengths – for example CO2 lasers working at 10.6 μm. Due to the high power levels, it is essential to reach very low absorption losses of laser optics. Similarly, many optical parametric oscillators and amplifiers emit light at long wavelengths, and this often in relatively broad wavelength regions, so that broadband infrared optics are required.

Custom mid-IR optics can be designed for spectral range 1 – 5 µm, using standard or CaF2, MgF2, YAG, sapphire or silicon substrates.

IRD Ceramics manufactures precision infrared optical components which are essential to infrared cameras and sensors used by homeland security, border patrol, defense and security companies. We perform all fabrication in house, allowing us to produce low-cost IR mirrors, lenses and windows for commercial applications as well as customized lenses to meet the exact demands of defense and security companies. IRD Ceramics works with sapphire, silicon, chalcogenides, germanium, BaF2, CaF2, zinc selenide and more.

We offer a wide range of IR substrates, including Ge, Si, ZnSe, ZnS, ZnS , CaF2, BaF2 and GaAs. Our lenses and windows are available with multiple anti-reflection coating options that can increase durability and improve performance.

An essential condition for optical elements to work with infrared light is that transparency (i.e., propagation with low absorption and scattering losses) is obtained for optical materials – particularly for elements like lenses and prisms, where propagation lengths can be significant, but often also for dielectric coatings.

Naturally, scattering processes are relatively weak at long optical wavelengths. For example, the intensity of Rayleigh scattering – scattering at objects which are far smaller than the wavelength – scales with the inverse fourth power of the wavelength. Therefore, scattering losses are usually not a serious concern for infrared optics – very much in contrast to ultraviolet optics – although the homogeneity of infrared materials is often not perfect.

At Shanghai Optics we design and manufacture a wide variety of custom optical IR components. Our state of the art equipment allows us to achieve unparalleled precision and surface quality, and every piece we manufacture is subject to stringent quality controls.

Another important field of application is spectroscopy because many interesting transitions e.g. for identifying trace gases are in the infrared (often in the mid-IR).