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Parabolic & Ellipsoidal Mirrors


Knight Optical supply a range of custom parabolic and custom ellipsoidal reflectors for use from, for example, the UV (200 to 400nm) to the IR (0.7 to 1.1µm) wavebands. The parabolic and ellipsoidal reflectors that are custom made, include the following range:

Custom parabolic reflectors, precision grade:  These custom precision grade parabolic reflectors are used for collimating light sources when the light source is placed at the focal point of the reflector. The use of a parabolic for focusing, or collimating, is the removal of spherical aberration that occurs with a spherical reflector surface. The reflectors have very low f-number to collimate as much as possible in the smallest of instruments. We can manufacture custom parabolic reflectors with a range of curves to meet your specific f# requirement. Custom reflectors are coated with, for example, protected aluminium that reflects the UV, visible, and NIR. A range of coatings are available to create your custom parabolic reflector depending on specific wavelength, for example protected gold can be used for NIR-FIR wavelengths, whilst aluminium/Mgf² overcoat can be used for UV applications down to 180nm. Coatings can also be vacuum deposited that will reflect the UV and visible and transmit the IR, thus keeping the IR rays from heating the target, such as a film slide. This is termed a cold reflector.

Custom parabolic reflectors, large type: These custom parabolic reflectors have large diameter, up to 610mm (24”) with a centre hole through which a detector can be adjusted to locate at the reflectors focal point. These reflectors are intended to be used as light collectors, but equally be used as a collimator for small sources at the focal plane, such as an LED, or tungsten bulb. The coating is usually protected aluminium given the large size of the reflectors. We can manufacture custom large parabolic reflectors with a range of curves to meet your specific requirement or vacuum coat with a range of coatings to meet your specific requirement.

Custom ellipsoidal reflectors, precision grade and cold type:  These custom precision ellipsoidal reflectors have a hole through which a light source can be located at the focal point. The light will be focussed at the second focal point of the ellipsoidal reflector where a target could be located to determine its characteristics. The surface can be coated with similar ones discussed in the parabolic section, namely one for UV, visible, and NIR and the other transmitting the NIR. Thereby making the ellipsoidal reflector a cold system.
Some typical coatings for your custom parabolic reflectors include:

  • Enhanced aluminium coating, 94% reflectivity for use in visible applications.
  • 99.9% dielectric coating for laser use in visible applications.
  • UV aluminium/Mgf² coating for use in UV applications down to 180nm.
  • 98.5% NIR dielectric coating for laser use in the near infra-red region.
  • Ion plated protected silver coating for use in NIR to 2000nm.
  • Protected gold coating for use from 750nm to far infra-red applications.

Knight Optical supply high quality custom parabolic and ellipsoidal reflectors made to your exact custom specification. Every component is individually tested by our highly skilled technicians in our state of art metrology lab to ensure all components meet our high quality standards.

Contact our multilingual technical sales team and discover how Knight Optical’s high quality custom parabolic, ellipsoidal reflectors and service can improve your instrumentation and supply chain experience.

Our 2022/2023 Catalogue

Inside Knight Optical’s catalogue you’ll find details of the industries we serve as well as the many other services we can offer. It also showcases hundreds of our most popular products, supported by useful technical information, to help you choose the right part for your application.
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