Overview: A special form of a thick biconvex optical lens is a ball lens,
usually having the geometrical form of a ball (sphere). They are
manufactured from a single material, usually an optical glass with
good transparency in the wavelength region of interest. A
frequently used material is fused silica. Ball lenses and can focus or collimate light, depending upon the
geometry of the input source. They are great optical components for
improving signal coupling between fibers, emitters, and detectors.
They are also used in endoscopy, bar code scanning, ball pre-forms
for aspheric lenses, and sensor applications. Star Optic provides ball lenses and half ball lenses made from
various substrate materials including sapphire, ruby, BK7, UV fused
silica, high index glass, and germanium, ZnSe, ZnS with AR coating. Available diameters are between 0.3 mm to 100 mm, with diameter
tolerance (sphericity) <0.3 µm and surface roughness (Ra)
<0.007 µm. Custom ball and half ball module options are also
available on request. There are five key parameters needed to understand and use ball
lenses: Diameter of Input Source (d)(d), Diameter of Ball Lens (D), Effective Focal Length of Ball Lens
(EFL), Back Focal Length of Ball Lens (BFL)and Index of Refraction
of Ball Lens (n). General Specifications of Ball Lens: Material | UV Fused Silica | | Diameter Tolerance | +0/-0.005mm | Surface Quality | 60/40 scratch-Dig | Sphericity | <0.003mm | Clear Aperture | >90% | Coating | None, Available |
Standard Products of Ball Lens: PN. | Material | Diameter (mm) | Coating | FSBAL0.5 | UVFS | 0.5 | Uncoated | FSBAL1.0 | UVFS | 1.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL1.5 | UVFS | 1.5 | Uncoated | FSBAL2.0 | UVFS | 2.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL2.5 | UVFS | 2.5 | Uncoated | FSBAL3.0 | UVFS | 3.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL4.0 | UVFS | 4.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL5.0 | UVFS | 5.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL6.0 | UVFS | 6.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL8.0 | UVFS | 8.0 | Uncoated | FSBAL10.0 | UVFS | 10.0 | Uncoated |
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