ITAR registered and ROHS & REACH compliant

ISO 9001:2015 certification
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Materials Qualification

Materials Qualification

Glass manufacturers offer a wide variety of optical glass types, each with its own unique set of optical, chemical and  physical properties. Precision Optical relies on our experience to identify the challenges of working with specific glass types and apply manufacturing strategies necessary for ensuring success. We have extensive experience working with fused silica, crown, flint, and filter glass types, and have developed successful methods for working with Zerodur glass-ceramic, calcium fluoride, stainless steel, zinc selenide, germanium and other materials.

In addition to the challenges associated with manufacturing glass, Precision Optical offers assistance dealing with material availability. We can identify equivalent materials offered by the major glass manufacturers, and work closely with our network of reliable glass distributors, thus optimizing the price and lead times of optical components.

Glass quality if of the upmost importance for components and optical systems, particularly for applications where optics are used in transmission.  Although we do not make glass material, Precision Optical is strongly equipped and capable in certifying material properties and quality.  With our precision goniometers, we have the ability to characterize index of refraction.  With our high powered CCM’s, we have the ability to characterize bubbles and inclusions.  We can characterize striae via shadow graph, and with our Ilis Strain Scope we can quantify stress birefringence.  Our laser interferometers allow us to measure and quantify inhomogeneity (global or localized) of glass materials for very demanding applications.  We utilize the Phom technique for wedged optic testing and our dynamic 4D FizCam for parallel optic testing.

Material Types

  • • Common Schott glass types, including N-BK, N-BAK, N-F, N-SF and more
  • • Common Ohara glass types, including S-BSL, S-LAH, S-TIH and more
  • • Quartz and Fused Silica, such as Infrasil, Homosil, Suprasil, 7980, SK1300
  • • UV and IR Materials, CaF2, Germanium, ZnSe, Silicon
  • • Zerodur and CCZ glass-ceramics
  • • Supremax and Pyrex equivalent
  • • Filter glass
  • • Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Aluminum Nitride, ceramic, metal alloys and plastics for structural bonding