Tower Optical Corporation

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Our custom optical filters allow biomedical experts observe the finest details and diagnose with precision each time. Get our state-of-the-art, low cost solution today.

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Experts use our premium quality beamsplitters in various fields to obtain precise results. Let us know your requirements and we’ll provide a custom-made one for you.

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This article is intended to familiarize the reader with the functions, design, and characteristics of the crystalline waveplate – a true workhorse in precision optics.The crystalline waveplate is an essential and versatile tool for controlling, analyzing, and optimizing polarized light.

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Experts use our premium quality beamsplitters in various fields to obtain precise results. Let us know your requirements and we’ll provide a custom-made one for you.

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Our Beam Expander—BeamEx1000—is a low cost, high-quality, and user-friendly alternative that offers greater precision than ever before! Request a quote today.

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This article is intended to familiarize the reader with the functions, design, and characteristics of the crystalline waveplate – a true workhorse in precision optics.The crystalline waveplate is an essential and versatile tool for controlling, analyzing, and optimizing polarized light.

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Experts use our premium quality beamsplitters in various fields to obtain precise results. Let us know your requirements and we’ll provide a custom-made one for you.

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Our Beam Expander—BeamEx1000—is a low cost, high-quality, and user-friendly alternative that offers greater precision than ever before! Request a quote today.

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Tower Optical Corporation is a manufacturer of precision optics. Products include Wave Plates, Lenses, Prisms, Beam splitters, Mirrors, Filters, Optical Flats

[toweroptical]

Tower Optical Corporation is a manufacturer of precision optics. Products include Wave Plates, Lenses, Prisms, Beam splitters, Mirrors, Filters, Optical Flats

[toweroptical]

Our Beam Expander—BeamEx1000—is a low cost, high-quality, and user-friendly alternative that offers greater precision than ever before! Request a quote today.

[toweroptical]

Tower Optical Corporation is a manufacturer of precision optics. Products include Wave Plates, Lenses, Prisms, Beam splitters, Mirrors, Filters, Optical Flats

[toweroptical]

Tower Optical Corporation is a manufacturer of precision optics. Products include Wave Plates, Lenses, Prisms, Beam splitters, Mirrors, Filters, Optical Flats

[toweroptical]

A Guide to Optical Assembly

Optical assemblies refer to several components that are designed to assist in creating an optical system. These multi-element assemblies contain an assortment of kits designed to meet common laser or optical specifications, such as alignment, mounting, focusing or beam manipulation.

Optical assemblies are essentially the less expensive alternative to utilizing several components when designing optical systems.

A multi-element assembly for optical aperture expansion, for instance, combines diffractive technology with facet reflective technology. This includes using at least two diffractive components with opposite optical power. In this case, the first diffractive component introduces chromatic dispersion while the second component cancels it out. In combination with a reflective optical component, the two diffractive components reduce noise and distortion and help manufacturers achieve aperture expansion for efficiently.  This optical assembly enables a wider field of view while eliminating polarization management.

Optical Assembly Applications

Let’s look at some applications that typically use optical assemblies:

· Scopes for special forces and defence usage

· High-powered laser optics

· Industries that use optical filters

op-Notch Optical Assembly Services

Tower Optical offers optical assembly as well as optical grade bonding of filter stacks, windows, and other optical flats to better integrate optics into larger systems, thereby saving time.

Our Design For Manufacturing/Assembly (DFM/DFA) techniques ensure key design simplifications that add to the overall manufacturability of the system. Our experienced Assembly Team coordinates with you to offer design advice, ensuring certain parts are delivered promptly for your project’s next phase.

Environmental Control

Our facility’s environmental controls ensure contamination-free, stress-free and reliable optical assemblies. We also offer roughness and surface testing, in addition to durometer measurement.

Benefits Of Multi-Element Assembly At Tower Optical

· Optical-grade bonding of flat optics and filter stacks

· Thermo-set and stress-free bonding of windows for extreme environments

· Premium-quality adhesives for large-volume manufacturing

· Design for Manufacturing (DFM) / Design for Assembly (DFA) for robust assembly processes and affordable costs

· Proper quality control of all aspects of the process

Trained and experienced staff

If you’re looking for a highly-experienced optical design, integration and assembly team, partner with Tower Optical for your mission-critical applications. From concept to the final product, their optic professionals ensure precision and quality throughout.

Their custom-building capabilities, cutting-edge technology, and unparalleled quality have positioned Tower Optical as leaders in the marketplace. They provide a variety of products including optical filters, beam splitters, flat optics, beam expanders, micro prisms, zero-order waveplates, optical windows, laser mirrors, and more!

Send them a drawing of your optical solution and they’ll reach out with a quotation.

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Things to Consider When Ordering Optical Flats

Optical flats, also known as “test flats”, “test plates” or “reference flats” are precisely polished surfaces that are used to measure the flatness (surface accuracy) of an unknown surface. They do so by using the property of interference.

When optical flats are placed on a test surface, an air wedge forms where the two surfaces don’t touch. The thickness of the air wedge is analyzed to find out the shape and direction of the interference bands, which helps in determining the flatness of the test surface.

When viewed under monochromatic light, the two surfaces show light and dark bands, called interference fringes. If these interference fringes are parallel and straight, the test surface will be said to have more than or equal flatness compared to the reference surface. Conversely, an uneven interference pattern shows that the test surface’s flatness is lesser than that of the reference flat.

Common flat optical components used in the IR, UV and visible spectrums are:

· Filters

· Wedges

· Mirrors

· windows

· Waveplates

· Encoder disks

· Debris shields

· Reference surfaces

· Light pipes

· Gratings

Factors to Consider

Here are some factors you need to consider when ordering optical flats:

Optical Material

Homogeneity, bubbles, and stress birefringence are some of the most important factors since they affect product performance, quality, and pricing.

For instance, an optician’s ability to achieve the desired transmitted wavefront specification goes down as the product’s homogeneity decreases. Similarly, stress birefringence impacts the mechanical stability of the test surface. Bubbles, on the other hand, can affect the product’s cosmetics during the polishing and grinding stages.

Best optical materials for single and dual surface flat optics are BK7 and fused silica. While other materials can also be used, they require special processing techniques and careful handling as they might be sensitive to humidity or temperature.

Wedged or Parallel

Components like plate beam splitters, filters, windows, and wafers typically need to be of high parallelism, whereas wedges and prisms may be intentionally wedged.

Factors like polishing and grinding play a crucial role in achieving the desired parallelism specifications. Double-sided polishing and grinding are one of the best methods to achieve exceptional parallelism (i.e. <1 arc second). Manufacturers measure parallelism using an interferometer.

Conversely, prisms and wedges are processed using pitch polishers to achieve the required angled surfaces.

Dimensions

Although optical flats are of various shapes, round optics are the best in achieving desired specifications uniformly and quickly.

If you need to customize optical flats, get in touch with Tower Optical; they’re a leader in customizing high-quality precision optics with over 20 years of experience in the industry.

They also offer a variety of products, including optical filters, optical flats, beam expanders, laser mirrors, and more than 10,000 waveplates.

Send in your drawing and specifications and they’ll reach out to you with a quotation!

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An Introduction to Optical Lenses

Optical lenses are transparent optical components used to diverge or converge light emitted from peripheral objects. The transmitted rays of light then form a virtual or real image of the object.

Optical lenses are used in a wide range of applications ranging from laser processing and edge photonics technology to microscopy, optical imaging and optical computing. In fact, industries like life sciences, industrial, astronomy and defense use optical lenses for a variety of purposes.

Lenses are great examples of transmissive optical components, which means that they transmit or pass light. Filters, flats, prisms, windows, waveplates, and beamsplitters are other examples of transmissive components.

Conversely, retroflectors and optical mirrors are reflective components that reflect light instead of transmitting it.

Uses of optical lenses

· Correcting optical aberrations

· Image projection

· Image focusing

· Magnification

Classification

Optical lenses are typically classified into the following types:

Converging (or positive) lenses

Converging lenses cause the beam of light to converge on a spot behind the lens (between “near” and infinity). Plano-convex and biconvex lenses are considered positive.

Diverging (or negative) lenses

Diverging lenses cause the beam of light to spread or converge behind the lens. Plano-concave and biconcave—the two types of concave lenses—are negative.

Meniscus (convex-concave) lenses

These lenses can either be negative or positive depending on the curvature of the lens.

For instance, if a meniscus lens has a steep concave surface, it’s considered negative, while a steep convex surface indicates a positive lens.

A meniscus lens that has equal curvature on both sides will neither diverge nor converge light.

Selecting the Correct Optical Lens

Choosing for the correct lens type depends heavily on the intended application. In cases where you need to minimize optical distortion or aberration, choosing the right lens shape is of utmost importance.

Achromatic lenses, for instance, are designed for applications that require color correction since they bring two wavelengths (typically blue and red) into focus on the same plane.

Similarly, aspheric lenses are used in correcting spherical aberrations since they minimize eye distortion without compromising optical quality.

Moreover, Silicon (Si), Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) or Germanium (Ge) lenses are ideal for applications that require transmitting the Infrared spectrum. Fused Silica, on the other hand, is suited for the Ultraviolet spectrum.

If you’re looking for customized high-quality precision optics, head over to Tower Optical. Their use of state-of-the-art technology, custom-building capabilities, and unparalleled quality has positioned them as a leader in the industry.

They offer a multitude of products, including optical filters, optical flats, beam expanders, laser mirrors and more than 10,000 waveplates. They even specialize in build-to-print cost-effective precision optics.

Get in touch with Tower Optical today for a free quotation!

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Tower Optical Corporation is a manufacturer of precision optics. Products include Wave Plates, Lenses, Prisms, Beam splitters, Mirrors, Filters, Optical Flats