Jan 28 2011
Optical solutions provider, REO has launched a new line of high performance optics that provides multi-wavelength operation for military applications such as range detection and target identification.
The optic components offer a special combination of high transmission or reflectivity at various wavelength bands such as 1,570, 1,064 or 808 nm. It also sustains outstanding wavefront quality of less than ë/10 at a wavelength of 633 nm in the reflected beam.
REO's new range of optics
The new line of optics also has ultra transmission or reflection characteristics in the spectral brand range from 3 µm to 5 µm, facilitating regular aperture FLIR applications. In addition, the optics demonstrate excellent environmental reliability and offer greater laser damage threshold of greater than 40 J/cm2 for a 20 ns pulse at a wavelength of 1,064 nm. This performance level is hard to attain as multi-wavelength coatings of this kind are usually thick and makes it difficult to maintain film absorption and flaws below tolerable limits. It also makes it difficult to manage layer stress that may result in wavefront problems. To overcome these difficulties, REO employs a number of coating and production technologies such as ion beam sputtering (IBS) and advanced plasma source (APS) coating to offer the required range of control over coating stress, structure and stoichiometry.
The new range of optics can be made using a number of substrates such as silicon, zinc sulphide, silica, zinc selenide and sapphire with a size range of 0.5" to 12". Shapes such as plano, aspheric, spherical, non-circular and non-rectangular can be produced with through holes.