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Introduction to Acousto-Optic Crystals
Acousto-Optic Crystals are crystals that exhibits photoelastic effects, where mechanical waves stimulate elastic strains in the crystals, acting as periodic phase gratings and alters the refractive indices, leading to changes in the optical properties. The AO crystals are excellent candidates for to be processed into the acouto-optic medium of the Acousto-Optic Modulators (AOM) including AO Q-switch, Acousto-Optic Deflectors (AOD), Acousto-Optic Frequency Shifter (AOFS), and Acousto-Optic Tunable Filters (AOTF), etc.
SCHOTT ZERODUR
SCHOTT ZERODUR is a lithium aluminum silicon oxide glass-ceramic of zero porosity. Glass Ceramics are manufactured from controlled crystallization and nucleation of glass substrates, resulting in its mixed inherent properties of both glass and ceramic. Among them, SCHOTT ZERODURis iconic for its near-zero coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), which is a result of its counterbalancing microscopic system and the glass matrix.
BOROFLOAT33
BOROFLOAT33 is a SCHOTT designation of borosilicate glass made by a unique microfloat technology. Its excellent thermal, mechanical, chemical and optical properties yielded versatility and stature in multitudes of applications.
Corning HPFS 7980, 7979
Datasheets of Corning HPFS 7980,7979.
Super Achromatic Waveplates
Shalom EO recently joined the development of Super Achromatic Waveplates. Unlike conventional achromatic waveplates, super achromatic waveplates consist of six waveplates aligned together, three made from quartz (Crystalline SiO2) and three made from magnesium fluoride (MgF2). With an increased number of composing waveplates, this design minimizes the fluctuations of retardation and substantially broadens the application spectrum from the UV to the NIR.
JGS1
JGS1 is a synthetic UV-grade quartz glass suitable for optical applications equivalent to Corning 7980. JGS1 has high transmission across the UV to the NIR spectrum (180-2500nm), and is particularly advantageous for application in the UV range. However, like most UV grade Fused Silica, JGS1 contains relatively higher OH compositions than the IR grade Fused Silica, which leads to higher absorption in the IR band.
Introduction to Waveplates and Retarders
It is crucial for buyers to discriminate the differences between the various types of Waveplates and Retarders, here is a general, simple and approachable introduction about waveplates and retarders, to help you understand better the differences and traits of each type of them.
What are SAW Wafers and Crystals
A Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) device is a device that transfers the input electrical signal into acoustic signal through the converse piezoelectric effects or vice versa.SAW devices provide wide application possibilities across the fields of radio and television, mobile and wireless telephone, satellite communication, GPS system, identification system.
Ball Lenses and Half-Ball Lenses
Ball lenses belong to a special form of biconvex lenses which have the geometry of a ball(sphere). They are manufactured from a single material, usually an optical glass with good transparency in the wavelength region of interest. The typical applications of ball lenses include focusing light in the field of fibers(e.g. laser to fiber coupling ,fiber to fiber coupling), emitters and detectors.Half-Ball lenses are variants of ball lenses, they are ideal for for more compact designs.
BBO Crystals for EO Applications
Beta-Barium Borate ( BBO) crystal is an excellent electro-optic crystal for high power applications at the wavelength range from 200nm to 2,500nm. It could be used as the EO Q-switching crystals, Beta BBO crystals or beta barium borate crystals exhibit significant advantages over other materials in terms of laser power handling abilities,high damage threshold temperature stability, and substantial freedom from piezoelectric ringing.