After introducing the field of optical coating, e. g. via filter and anti-reflective coatings, beam splitter and dielectric mirrors, the following article shows how to obtain the coating materials with the desired properties on optics made of glass, metal or other materials.

The basic requirement for a long lifespan and the preservation of quality of precision optics is the high level of care in handling and cleaning.

Some of these myths have already been addressed in the previous article and we were able to disprove them. In the following, we will focus on three more myths about precision and reproducibility.

With the development of modern manufacturing technologies, obsolete assumptions and prejudices about aspheres become myths. We will discuss some of these in the following and show which aspheric myths can be discarded today.

This article shows to what extent the focusing of a spherical lens can be improved by changing the input beam distribution using axicons.

Axicons are conical lenses which create a ring-shaped beam used in research or rather different laser applications. They can be either convex or concave and made from almost any optical material.

Beam expansion systems (also referred to as Beam Expander) are used for optimum adaption of beam cross sections between light sources (i.e. laser) and the following optical element.