Custom Optics
We make custom optics to your drawing and keep an inventory of standard parts: optical windows, spherical and cylindrical lenses, wedge prisms, and cemented achromatic doublets and lens assemblies. Each part can be AR coated or finished with hydrophobic, oleophobic or scratch-resistant coatings, from samples to OEM volumes.
Capabilities
Windows
Glass or plastic · Custom size and shape
Spherical lenses
Positive and negative · Plano, bi and meniscus forms
Cylindrical lenses
Power in one axis · For line lights and laser diodes
Wedge prisms
Custom angle and size · Single or paired steering
Doublets and assemblies
Cemented achromats · Aluminum or plastic housings
Coatings
AR, hydrophobic, oleophobic · Scratch-resistant, mirror
Gallery
Get a custom optics quote
Send your drawing or tell us what the optic must do, the wavelength and the size, and we will match a stock part or quote a custom one.
Optics We Make
Five families of optics are made to drawing here. Filters, beamsplitters and mirrors have their own pages: see optical bandpass filters, optical beamsplitters, and mirror coatings.
Optical Windows
Flat glass or plastic windows that protect a lens, sensor or light source from dust, debris and impact, usually with an AR, hydrophobic, oleophobic or scratch-resistant coating.
- Material: glass or plastic
- Coatings: AR, easy-clean, scratch-resistant [Protective windows →]
Spherical Lenses
Positive lenses (plano-convex, bi-convex, positive meniscus) focus or collimate light; negative lenses (plano-concave, bi-concave, negative meniscus) spread it.
- Focal length: positive or negative
- Coating: AR for your wavelength band
Cylindrical Lenses
Lenses with power in one axis only. Paired with an LED line light or a laser diode, they turn a spot into a sharp line or band for machine vision.
- Power: one axis, positive or negative
- Use: line generation, anamorphic shaping
Wedge Prisms
Prisms with a small angle between their faces that deflect a beam by a set angle. Used singly for a fixed offset, or in pairs for fine beam steering and alignment.
- Angle, size and shape to drawing
- AR coated on both faces
Achromatic Doublets and Lens Assemblies
Cemented doublets that bring two colors to the same focus, and multi-element lens assemblies in aluminum or plastic housings, engraved with your name or logo if required.
- Built to your optical design
- Housings: aluminum or plastic
Choosing Lens Shape and Wedge Angle
The lens shape decides how sharp the focus is. To focus a collimated beam or collimate light from a point source, use a plano-convex lens with its curved side facing the collimated light; turned the other way, it adds noticeably more spherical aberration. For imaging with object and image at similar distances, a bi-convex lens performs better. A positive meniscus added to another lens shortens the focal length with little extra aberration.
A cylindrical lens focuses in one axis only, so the drawing must show which axis carries the power and how it aligns to the mounting edges.
A wedge can be specified by its wedge angle or by the beam deviation it produces, and the two are not the same. For a thin wedge, deviation is about (n − 1) times the wedge angle, so a 2° wedge in glass with n ≈ 1.52 bends the beam about 1°. Two wedges rotated against each other can steer a beam anywhere within a cone twice the deviation of one wedge.
What to Specify for a Custom Optic
| Parameter | What to tell us | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Wavelength | The band the optic must work in | Sets the glass and the AR coating; fused silica for deep UV. |
| Material | Glass type, or leave it to us | Plastic suits low-weight windows; glass suits lenses and coated optics. |
| Size and thickness | Diameter or outline, center and edge thickness | Thin, large parts need extra care to stay flat. |
| Optical power or angle | Focal length; or wedge angle, or the deviation you need | State which one you mean for wedges. |
| Orientation | Curved side, power axis, wedge direction | Needed for plano-convex, cylindrical and wedge parts. |
| Surface quality | Scratch-dig and surface figure | Our filters are polished to 40/20 scratch-dig; tighter grades on request. |
| Coatings | AR band, hydrophobic, oleophobic, scratch-resistant or mirror | Coatings are added after polishing and can differ by face. |
| Housing | Bare, or mounted in aluminum or plastic; engraving | For assemblies and multi-element lenses. |
| Quantity | Sample, prototype or OEM volume | We match stock parts first, then quote custom tooling. |