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UV Optical Flats


Custom grade UV optical flats are single precision flat surfaces. They are used as reference surfaces to compare flatness of a substrate where flatness is unknown.  When a high quality optical flat is placed on top of a polished substrate and used in conjunction with a monochromatic light source light bands are formed.  The monochromatic light has a helium filled tube source which eliminates all colours except a “yellowish” orange.  The light bands that are present are known as interference fringes and their shape represents how flat the part being tested measures.  Dependent on how many rings are formed or how straight the presented lines are is an indication of how flat the tested part is.   The rings present are called “Newton’s rings” they are an interference pattern created by the reflection of light between two optical surfaces.

Custom UV grade optical flats are used for testing parts in ultraviolet applications; they can also be used in interferometers and as a substrate for high quality flat optical mirror and window sub-straights for laser applications.

Knight Optical offers a range of UV grade custom optical flats manufactured from Quartz that works efficiently at 260nm.  These custom quartz UV optical flats are available as single-sided optically polished or dual faced optically polished and available as different stability and surface quality.  Other UV grade materials are also available, for example UV grade fused silica which is excellent when used in transmission achieving over 85% at 185nm, although still useful at 175nm.

Custom UV grade quartz flats are available as any grade of flatness you require generally up to 1/20th wave, however custom UV flats come as three grades, lambda/4, lambda/8 and lambda/16 which meet most demanding applications.

All optical flats are tested on our Zygo Verifire XPZ interferometer system fitted with the latest Mx® software, and are supplied certified in a quality wooden box.

Knight Optical also offer a rework and calibration service for optical flats, please enquire.  Also take a look at our bench top and floor standing monochromatic light sources.

Every component is individually tested by our highly skilled technicians in our state of the 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 UV optical flats 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.
Click below to view our digital catalogue now.

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