Custom Aspheric Lenses
An aspheric lens is used to correct for spherical aberrations, where the converging rays from a lens do not have a common focal point, which is an issue seen in traditional spherical lenses. This non-convergence of light causes a blur at the edge of an image which can be problematic in certain imaging and laser applications.
Knight Optical can provide custom aspheric lenses in Schott (or equivalent) glass types, as well as in plastic and infrared materials, such as germanium and zinc selenide. Our aspheric lenses are manufactured to your specific requirements.
Please find our typical manufacturing capabilities below, however, we are always looking to expand and work with our customers on achieving their specifications, so please do not hesitate to contact our technical sales team for further information and guidance on your enquiry:
|
|
Diameter |
Centration |
Surface Figure |
Scratch/dig |
|
Aspheric Lenses |
3mm to 150mm+ |
< 3 arcminutes |
< 1 fringe |
< 60/40 |
Knight Optical can provide:
- Plastic aspheric lenses which are a cost effective solution. This can be mass produced, however the surface quality is reduced in comparison to our other lens types. An advantage of injected moulded lenses is that a flange can be added for easier assembly within a system. Knight Optical stock plastic aspheric lenses with focal lengths ranging from 3.5mm to 85mm.
- Moulded glass aspheric lenses, where surfaces are polished to meet our customer requirements.
- Knight Optical can provide, and already stock, fire polished aspheric lenses which have a large aperture, ideal for light collecting applications such as condenser lenses in LED based projects.
- Diamond turned aspheric lenses for precision grade lenses, typically used for infrared optical components.
Contact our technical sales team and discover how Knight Optical’s high quality, custom aspheric lenses and our impeccable quality of service can improve your instrumentation and supply chain experience.
Additional Information
- Aspheric lenses can replace the need for multiple lenses in a system, and therefore reducing the weight of a system and associated costs.
- The aspheric profile is defined by a sag equation and it is important to note that though the surface deviates away from a traditional spherical surface, it is still rotationally symmetrical.
- Knight Optical can provide achromatic aspheric lenses, for superior colour correction purposes.
Coatings
Knight Optical can provide a wide range of coatings to your aspheric lens including:
- Antireflective (AR) coatings, optimised to your operating wavelengths. This include BBAR coatings such as visible coating working between 450-650nm.
- Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings, typically used on infrared materials such as germanium, to increase the durability of the coated surface.
Quality Assurance
Knight Optical test all optical components in our metrology laboratory to ensure they meet their requirements. They are then 100% visually inspected in our QA department, where our technicians are trained on ISO 10110 and MIL-0-13830A specifications, and can check down to 10/5 scratch/dig which is especially critical in laser applications.
Typical Applications
- Imaging systems, including those utilising CCD/CMOS image sensors.
- Microscope objective lenses with reduced bulk size compared to their spherical counterparts.
- Laser beam shaping.
- Fibre optic applications.
- Optical systems requiring a more compact size as they remove the need for multi-lens systems.
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.
Click below to view our digital catalogue now.