GRADIUM® Lenses

• Gradient index lenses for high-power laser delivery
• Aspheric performance
• Smaller focused spot size
• Delivers single lens replacement for conventional doublets
• Provides high performance at a  cost effective price
• Standard designs with diameters from 5 mm to 80 mm

• Ideal for high power applications, GRADIUM® lenses and their gradient-index structure often allow a GRADIUM singlet to replace a conventional spherical doublet. GRADIUM lenses can be custom designed for visible or near infrared applications in diameters from 5 mm to over 100 mm. GRADIUM doublets are also available for better achromatic performance and can equal the performance of conventional triplets.

• Made from LightPath's proprietary axial gradient index glass, GRADIUM lenses  can be exploited to reduce spherical aberrations – resulting in performance similar to single-term aspheres. As a result many of the world's largest fiber laser manufacturers incorporate GRADIUM optics in their laser delivery systems.

• GRADIUM lenses have been applied as simple singlets or doublets in complex multi-element systems. LightPath’s achromatic doublets are designed for use with collimated, polychromatic light in the visible spectrum. The GRADIUM glass element is used to reduce the spherical aberration which is a common side effect of a cemented doublet design.

• GRADIUM glass offers the additional benefit of chromatic correction. The dispersion, as well as the optical index, varies in a controlled fashion within the lens. A finished lens can be viewed as a seamless, contiguous combination of many glass types. This continuous variation results in a transfer aberration correction not possible with homogeneous lenses.

• GRADIUM lenses should be used wherever small spot size, high numerical aperture (NA), increased beam energy, or excellent wavefront quality is important. A GRADIUM singlet does not have the limited laser damage threshold of a conventional cemented doublet, so laser power can be increased, leading to increased production throughput.

• Looking for a custom design? LightPath can customize the focal length, diameter, and design wavelength to meet your specific needs. Lenses can also be provided with custom anti-reflective coatings or mounted in custom housings.