Aspheres & Freeforms
Primary Features:
- Size: 50-mm – 800-mm
- Off-Axis Angle: 0-90 deg.
- F/#: f/1 – F/20
- Lightweighting available
- AOS mounting solutions available
- Freeforms
Description & Features
Aspheric optics are used throughout sophisticated optical systems today. Our customers use aspheres in beam expanders, collimators, airborne imaging systems, telescopes, and as focusing elements for high-energy lasers. Aspheric systems offer the advantages of compact geometry, simplification in optical design over spherical optics, and enhanced performance. AOS manufactures parabolas, hyperboloids, ellipsoids, cylinders, toroids, and higher order aspheric freeforms.
FREEFORMS
Freeform optics are those with reflective surfaces that differ significantly from typical spherical and aspheric geometries. They typically may have no axis of symmetry. Freeforms provide useful degrees of freedom in optical design for creating compact geometries and for solving wavefront correction problems with the fewest number of surfaces possible. Designs may be optimized for purposes other than imaging, for instance to preferentially achieve altnernative irradiance distributions in the reflected wavefront.
credit: CeFO| Sizes | 50 mm – 800 mm |
| Materials | Fused Silica, Zerodur / Clearceram, SiC, Cordierite |
| Off-Axis Angles | 0-90 degrees |
| F/# | F/1 – F/20 |
| Reflected Wavefront Quality | < 10 nm RMS |
| Mid-Spatial Error Tolerance | Standard, Precision, & High Performance (see tech note) |
AOS is a member of Center for Freeform Optics.
How to Design and Tolerance an Asphere or Freeform?
We can help with that. See our publications page under our “Reasources” link for applications notes on definitions & tolerances, or contact us to speak with one of our knowledgeable applications engineers.
Ordering Information
Send us your drawings or specifications and we’ll begin preparing a quote for you.
The table below lists the information we’ll need to fully specify your asphere (No worries if you’re not sure about the specs. We can work it out with you).
| Size of the incident or reflected beam: this tells us how to set the dimensions of the asphere |
| Focal Length |
| Off-Axis Angle or Off Axis Distance |
| Preferred Material |
| Coating Requirements |
| Mount Requirements |
| Quality needed (reflected wavefront error & cosmetic quality) |
Contact us today to speak with an applications engineer.
AOS is ITAR registered. We request that you send any ITAR applicable information by a secure method.