PRECISION MIRRORS
G&H provide high energy precision mirrors for laser cavities and demanding applications. Our custom high-reflectivity mirrors deliver superior performance and value to customers designing and building laser cavities from small, lightweight range finding lasers to high laser damage threshold industrial lasers.
We understand that the smallest defect leads to a system failure. Our goal is to minimize or eliminate system failures due to coating or polishing defects.
Precision mirrors are fabricated in a number of shapes and sizes. Conventional optical grade flats or shaped substrates are precision polished and inspected at magnification to ensure there are no underlying defects before coatings. Careful cleaning and coating processes ensure microscopic particles are not encapsulated into the coating.
DIELECTRIC MIRRORS
Dielectric laser cavity and beam routing mirrors demonstrate very high reflectivity and high laser damage threshold. Mirrors can be optimized for single laser lines or reflectivity over a specific wavelength range. Narrower bandwidths generally deliver higher energy performance than broadband designs.
METAL MIRRORS
Metal mirrors are often used in applications with broader bandwidth requirements than broadband dielectric coatings can meet. Silver metal mirrors are used in low power visible wavelength applications, as it has the highest reflectivity of all the metal coating options. For UV to VIS applications, aluminum provides consistently good performance from 200 to 800 nm. Gold metal mirrors are typically used in IR applications.
Enhanced metal reflector coatings are metal mirrors overcoated with dielectric layers to broaden the inherent metal reflectivity over a limited spectral range.
Protected coatings are advised to improve abrasion and climatic resistance. This is especially important for aluminum mirrors, which unprotected will degrade very quickly in humid environments.
METROLOGY AND TESTING
To ensure performance in the field, we leverage extensive metrology capabilities to qualify every component at every step in the manufacturing process.
Environmental testing of components and coatings is critical for assurance of performance in rugged conditions. G&H environmental testing capabilities include MIL-C-675C, MIL-C-48497A, MIL-E-12397, and MIL-M-13508C for endurance against abrasion, adhesion, humidity, temperature, and environmental conditions.
APPLICATIONS
Laser cavities, laser range finders, target designators.
MIRROR OPTIONS | |
Typical substrate shapes |
|
Coatings |
|
Other coating options |
|