Molded Infrared Aspheres

Precision Molding of Chalcogenide Lenses
High Volume Capacity, Fast Prototype Turnaround
AR, HDAR or Protective DLC Coatings
Overview
LightPath’s glass molding technology has led the market in the development and supply of molded aspheric lenses for over 25 years. Building on that experience, and on our in-house manufacturing of Infrared Chalcogenide glasses, Lightpath designs, produces and delivers molded aspheric infrared optics for both Imaging and Laser applications.
- Based on materials from our Chalcogenide Glass Manufacturing
- Fast turn around of prototypes
- Easily transition from prototype phase to high-volume production
- Molded lenses can be coated with our proprietary DLC protective coating
Typical Tolerances
Parameter | Specification |
---|---|
Focal Length |
± 1% |
Center Thickness (CT) |
± 0.025 mm |
Outer Diameter (OD) |
± 0.015 mm |
Wedge |
4 arcmin |
Power/Irregularity |
3/1 fringes |
Surface Roughness |
15nm |
Surface Quality (scratch/dig) |
40/20 |
Wave Front Error (RMS) |
Diffraction Limited |
Materials
Leveraging our extensive precision glass molding technology, Lightpath produces molded aspherical infrared lenses made of Chalcogenide glass. In addition to our long standing BD6 (As40Se60) and our BD2 (Ge28Sb12Se60) materials, Lightpath is also in the process of commercializing Chalcogenide glasses developed by Navy Research Labs. These materials will be commercially available in the near future.
For more information on our moldable Chalcogenide Glasses, visit our Chalcogenide Glass page.
Precision Optical Molding
Precision glass molding (PGM) is a high-temperature, isothermal, compression process conducted within a very controlled environment. LightPath has an extensive innovative history with glass molding and a uses a unique volumetric approach which eliminates the need for any post processing or edging since the exact volume of the glass (preform) is specifically matched to the final lens. We custom design and manufacture in our Orlando headquarters the lens specific molds and tooling from a variety of materials using a variety of in-house developed techniques. Our molding stations are also designed and customed in house which allows system reproducibility and process control with our single cavity press stations across our global manufacturing locations.
Coatings
Lightpath offers both standard, and custom optical coatings for its infrared prisms. Those include Anti Reflective (AR), High Durability AR, Spectral Filters, and protective Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) coatings.
All three of our global facilities are vertically integrated and include in-house coating and testing. For further information about available coatings please visit our coatings page or contact us.
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Contact

Mark Palvino