Optical Components--Commonly Used Optical Lenses

- Spherical mirrors: Mirrors whose reflective surface is part of a sphere are categorized into two types: convex mirrors and concave mirrors. Concave mirrors are able to converge light and are often used as the main mirror of telescopes; convex mirrors are used to disperse light, such as automobile mirrors. Spherical mirrors are relatively simple to manufacture, but there are spherical aberration problems that may affect the imaging quality. Therefore, in high-precision optical systems, it is usually necessary to work with other lenses to correct aberrations.

- Aspherical mirrors: The surface shape of aspherical mirrors is specially designed to effectively eliminate spherical aberration and aberration and improve the imaging quality of optical systems. Aspherical mirrors are widely used in high-end camera lenses, laser collimation systems and projectors. Despite its complex manufacturing process and high cost, its performance advantages make it an important component in modern optical systems.

- 45-degree mirror: a special mirror, its reflective surface and the incident light at an angle of 45 degrees, often used to change the direction of the optical path, so that the light is reflected according to a specific angle, in the Optical System to play the role of steering, collapsing the optical path, for example, in a number of laser processing equipment, optical measurement instruments are more common. Its angular accuracy has an important impact on the optical path offset, need to ensure high-precision processing.

- Infrared OC mirror: Infrared OC mirror (Optical Coating Mirror) is a kind of optical lens specialized in infrared wavelength, usually refers to the infrared spectral range with specific optical properties of the coated mirrors. The “OC” in the name may stand for “Optical Coating”, indicating that the lens has been optimized for reflection or transmission in the infrared wavelengths through special coating techniques.

- Zero Degree Mirror: Typically refers to a mirror with special optical properties, where the reflective surface is able to reflect the incident light at a nearly zero degree angle, i.e., the reflected light is nearly parallel to the incident light, over a specific wavelength range. Such mirrors are often used to change the direction of the light path without changing the focus or degree of diffusion of the light. Such mirrors are often used in optical systems that require high precision control of the direction of light, such as in laser communications, laser processing, and astronomical observation.

- Ortho-Lens: Also called a convex lens, it is thick in the center and thin at the edges, and has a converging effect on light. Convex lenses can be used for imaging, such as cameras, projectors, magnifiers, etc. are working with the principle of convex lens imaging. It is important to note that lenses may introduce chromatic aberration, so achromatic designs are often used in high-quality optical systems.

- Negative Lens: A negative lens is a concave lens used primarily to divert light beams and correct aberrations in optical systems. It is often used in combination with a positive lens in zoom lenses and complex optical systems. Negative lenses need to be designed to match the overall optical path of the system to achieve optimal performance.

- Coupling Focusing Mirror: Typically used in lasers, fiber optic communications and optical imaging, it acts to transmit a light beam from one device to another and ensures that the light is accurately focused on the target location for applications such as higher energy density and more precise processing or measurement. It needs to be designed and selected based on specific laser wavelength, power, beam quality and application requirements to ensure optimal focusing and performance.

- Beam Expanders: An optical element used to expand the diameter of a laser beam, which is categorized into refractive and reflective types based on its principle of operation and structure. It can expand a small diameter laser beam into a larger diameter laser beam, thus increasing the energy density and coverage of the laser beam. Beam expanders are widely used in laser processing, astronomical telescopes and optical measurements. The design of beam expanding mirrors needs to consider the beam expansion ratio and wavefront aberration control.

- Field Mirror: An optical element used to change the energy distribution of a laser beam in the focal plane, usually placed in the focal plane of the lens. It can make the laser beam in the focal plane of the energy distribution more uniform, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of laser processing. Field mirrors are commonly used in laser processing, laser welding, laser cutting and other fields. In the scanning system, the field mirror with the scanning motor can control the scanning trajectory of the laser beam on the surface of the material to realize the processing of graphics and text.

- DOE mirror: that is, diffractive optical element, is an optical element designed based on the principle of diffraction, which can be used to phase modulate the light wave through its surface microstructure to realize the complex functions of beam shaping, beam splitting, focusing and multi-spot imaging, etc. DOE mirrors have the advantages of small size, light weight, easy to integrate, etc., and therefore have been widely used in the fields of laser processing, optical measurement, communication technology, biomedicine and display technology. They are widely used in laser processing, optical measurement, communication technology, biomedicine and display technology.

- Prisms: Prisms utilize the principles of refraction and reflection to achieve beam splitting, steering or dispersion functions. Common types of prisms include spectroscopic prisms, total reflection prisms and dispersive prisms. Prisms are widely used in spectrometers, periscopes and optical instruments.

- Filter: It is an optical element that selectively transmits or blocks light in a specific wavelength range. It can be designed to allow only light of a specific color or wavelength range to pass through and block light of other wavelengths, depending on the needs of the application. Common types include band pass filters, long pass filters and short pass filters. Filters are widely used in fluorescence microscopes, sensors and laser systems. Their performance depends on the quality of the coating and the transmittance profile.

- Beam splitter: Beam splitter can split the incident light into two or more beams according to a certain ratio or polarization state. They are widely used in interferometers, projectors and optical measurement systems.

- Polarizer: An optical element that selectively transmits or blocks light in a particular direction of polarization. It works on the basis of the polarization property of light, i.e., the regular orientation of the electric field vector of light in space during its propagation. A polarizer can convert unpolarized light into polarized light, or rotate the direction of polarization of polarized light by a certain angle. In optical instruments and experiments, polarizers are commonly used to control parameters such as light intensity, polarization direction and phase, such as in polarizing microscopes, liquid crystal displays, laser communications and other fields have a wide range of applications.

- Collimator: is an optical element used to convert diverging light rays or beams into parallel light rays. It usually consists of lenses or mirrors, the design and manufacture of which need to take into account the propagation characteristics of light and optical performance requirements. In laser technology, collimating mirrors are often used to collimate laser beams to improve the directionality and energy density of the laser; in astronomical observation, collimating mirrors are used to collimate light collected by telescopes to improve the accuracy and resolution of the observation.

- Window mirrors: Window mirrors are used to protect the internal components of an optical system while allowing light to pass through. It is widely used in vacuum cavities, sensors and lasers. The material of the window mirror needs to be chosen according to the operating wavelength band, e.g. quartz is suitable for the UV band.

- Optical Isolator: An optical element used to prevent reflected light in an optical path from interfering with the light source or other Optical Components, usually working on the basis of the Faraday or magneto-optical effect. It allows light to pass freely in one direction while being strongly absorbed or reflected in the opposite direction, thus isolating and protecting the optical path. Optical isolators are commonly used in laser systems, fiber optic communication systems, optical measurement systems and other fields to improve system stability and reliability.

- Optical Coating: A technology that coats one or more thin films on the surface of an optical element with the purpose of changing the optical properties of the optical element, such as reflectivity, transmittance, absorptivity, and polarization characteristics. Optical coatings can improve the efficiency and performance of optical elements by reducing reflection losses, increasing transmittance, enhancing anti-reflection capability, achieving specific polarization effects, etc. These coatings, which usually consist of a single material or a combination of materials, can be used to enhance the performance of optical elements and improve the efficiency and performance of optical systems.