Materials for UV Optics: Selection and Applications.
Selection of Materials for UV Optics Abstract Ultraviolet technology is seeing an increase in demand with many industries needing the ability to use non-x-ray short wavelengths. Key industries include lithography where writing smaller traces is the key to staying viable. When considering the design of ultraviolet optics, the materials available are far fewer than for […]
Beryllium: Versatile metal with unique properties.
Beryllium: Properties and Applications Introduction Beryllium is a lightweight, stiff, high thermal conductivity material which is useful in many opto-mechanical applications. Much work has been done to achieve high purity, isotropic beryllium blanks and foils. It can be challenging to work with as it can be very brittle, difficult to machine and is toxic to […]
Zerodur: A Low Thermal Expansion Material
Zerodur Introduction Zerodur is the trade name of a low thermal expansion glass-ceramic composite material made by Schott Glass. This report summarizes the chemical, physical and optical properties of Zerodur and discusses the applications for which this material is suited. History Borosilicate glasses α ~ 3 ppm/°C were developed in the late 1800s. These glasses […]
Silicon Carbide mirrors: Lightweight with exceptional properties.
Lightweighted telescope mirrors: Outstanding properties of Silicon Carbide Introduction: Nowadays, the willingness to always go further in the exploration of the Space and its celestial bodies requires the observation instruments sent in the Space to continuously improve their performances. Thus, the optics needs to get bigger to achieve higher spatial resolution, accuracy or light flux […]
Opti 521/421 Tutorial for Plastic Optical Materials
Opti 521/421 Tutorial for Plastic Optical Materials 1. Introduction Plastics optical materials have plenty of applications in consumer products. The main reason for the use of plastic optics is cost. The other benefits from using plastic optical materials are production volume, integral features, weight reduction, and aspheric or diffractive surfaces. Though these polymers have issues […]
Invar: Properties and applications overview.
An Introduction to Invar Summary This paper is intended to serve as an introduction to Invar for an audience of opto-mechanical engineers. I wrote this paper as part of a class in opto-mechanical engineering taught by Professor James Burge at the University of Arizona. A major motivation for writing this paper was to educate myself […]