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WWhat was once a tool for specialists is becoming increasingly accessible to a broader user base. Ease of use, power and adaptability are opening up the possibility of adapting light to individual needs and using it in a variety of ways.

Fluorescence microscopy leverages the fluorescence effect to visualize structures and processes at the nanometer scale. This technique relies on fluorochromes, which, when excited by specific wavelengths of light, emit light of a different color.

LIDT is an essential parameter when selecting and specifying laser optics for laser applications. The LIDT can be determined with the aid of various…

This series of blog articles on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) will start by addressing the causes of LID during manufacture. It will then…

Ultra-short pulse laser is the generic term for all laser sources that generate pulsed laser beams in the picosecond or femtosecond range…

Independent of the application, whether in satellite optics, video lenses or endoscopes – aspheres have already become indispensable in a wide range…

Precision optical components such as lenses or mirrors are almost always provided with an optical coating. The applied layers have different effects…

As already explained within the article ‘Spheres vs. Aspheres’, the use of aspheres in optical systems allows, among other things, more compact…

Aspheres clearly dominate in terms of imaging quality, but this is still reflected in the higher production/measurement effort and thus higher costs compared to the spherical lens…

Gaussian beam profiles are used in most laser applications. However, there are fields of application in which a homogeneous intensity distribution…

Depending on the production requirements, materials or required accuracy, each of the High-End-Finishing processes represented can convince with outstanding results.

In the third section we will concentrate on asphericons Ångström-Polishing method.

After considering the correction process by ions (ION-FinishTM), this blog post will focus on magnetorheological finishing (MRF).

For highest precision and to minimize form deviations, optics can be subjected to a final correction step, the so-called finishing.

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.

The first article of this series addressed the detailed description of tactile measuring procedure. The following contribution focuses on the non-contact measurement of aspheres with the help of interferometers, in order to describe optical measuring methods.

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.