PerfectLens™ Ultra-Precision Molded Optics

All of the molded aspheres listed below are RoHS-compliant.

Click on the part number to see the mechanical drawing.

Lenses may be edged to a smaller diameter on a special order basis. Minimum order quantites apply.

All of the above lenses are unmounted. Lenses can be supplied in metal housings upon request

Standard "A" and "B" BBAR coating curves. "C",custom VAR, BBAR and SLAR coatings also available on special order basis. The L671-Z ships with the X coating (blue shifted A coating) standard.

RMS wavefront error <0.05 waves; L671 RMS wavefront error < 0.06 waves @ 408 nm.

Archer OpTx molded lenses are produced using the PerfectLens™ technology platform. This proprietary technology produces high-yield long-life molds, which are free of the high-frequency surface defects commonly found on many molded lenses due to single-point diamond turning of the molds. These high-frequency defects do not typically show up on interferograms, but can produce troublesome diffraction effects, particularly in visible light applications.

PerfectLens™ molds support a wide range of optical glasses, providing the lens designer with the freedom to select the glass that is best suited to the application.

Archer OpTx offers precision molded aspheres in a variety of diameters from a few millimeters to several tens of millimeters in diameter. These aspheres are manufactured by pressing glass preforms in carefully prepared molds. Hard molds have a typical lifetime of tens of thousands of parts (size dependent) and are cost-effective for volumes of 200-1000+ (depending upon the size of the part).

Typical peak-to-valley figure errors (irregularity) are less than 0.5 µm. Center thickness and diameter control of 30 µm are typical. Manufacturability is determined by local radii and tooling limitations as well as the flow properties of the glass, which is quite viscous.

Precision molded aspheres are the ideal solution when:

* Medium to large volumes of the same lens are needed to support your product
* Modest NRE charges are acceptable
* The glass type selected has been qualified for molding

Precision molded aspheres can be delivered in 12-16 weeks.

Archer OpTx offers custom precision molded optics as well as some standard, off-the-shelf designs. These standard products may be perfect for your application, or close enough until your application reaches high-volume manufacturing. Custom or standard, precision molded optics offer optical precision for optimal outcomes.

Molding Guidelines

The hard molds offer the most design flexibility, as they allow a wider range of glass types to be used. The molding process has a slightly different anneal cycle than the bulk glass; as-molded refractive index data are available in the Archer glass catalog for OpTaliX, ZEMAX, CODE V and OSLO.

Acceptable Lens Shapes

Unacceptable Lens Shapes

Design Guidelines

The volume of the lens (including flanges), V £ 4/3 p r³, where r is the smallest local convex radius.

The design should be able to tolerate 0.010 mm of lateral shear between surfaces plus 5 microns TIR of wedge (across the part without considering the lateral shear) to be considered robust

Archer Molded Glass catalog updated 28Apr2005!

New glasses and refractive index model range extended to cover 365 to 2300 nm.

Download the updated Archer OpTx molded glass catalog for OpTaliX

Download the updated Archer OpTx molded glass catalog for ZEMAX

Updated glass catalog available in CODE V v. 9.60, current versions of OpTalix, ZEMAX, OSLO 6.4.0+, and FRED. OSLO and FRED users contact your software vendor's technical support if you have questions.

Download the Archer OpTx molded glass data in Excel format.

phone: 972-463-8001
fax:  972-463-8311
email:  sales@archeroptx.com

Copyright © 2007 Archer OpTx, Inc.