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06-16-2015, Duryea, PA
SCHOTT Offers Single Source for All Active and Passive Glass Components for Lasers
Material and coating expertise allows for optimized glass components that have an extremely high laser damage threshold
SCHOTT uses diverse coating technologies such as ion beam sputtering to coat optical glass components at its site in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland). Photo: SCHOTT
Pulsed lasers achieve increasingly greater pulse power, which can present technical challenges when developing and manufacturing active media and passive optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, and beam splitters. “To manufacture high-performance laser glass, manufacturers must be skilled in two different areas: mechanical processing and design,” explains Todd Jaeger, PhD, Advanced Development Sales Manager at SCHOTT North America. “First, the mechanical process must be optimally geared toward the coating, which is applied later in the production process. Furthermore, the layer design, materials, and processes must suit the components’ use in order to optimally adapt them for the laser beam path.”
SCHOTT is well-equipped to meet these production demands with its industry-leading know-how and comprehensive fleet of machinery based at its Center of Excellence for coatings in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. “This means we can not only supply active laser glasses, but also the passive components needed to meet customer demands, all from a single source,” adds Jaeger.
By expanding its coating technologies, SCHOTT can produce components for laser applications that feature extremely high laser damage thresholds and resistance. This paves the way for new applications. These types of components are used in projects like the European Light Infrastructure (ELI), but they can also be used by customers for commercial applications.
Passive components include laser windows; debris shields; polarizers; beam splitters; aspherical, cylindrical, and spherical lenses; as well as mirrors. SCHOTT also supplies these passive components made of quartz glass, optical glass (SCHOTT N-BK7®, FK5), filter glass, and the glass-ceramic ZERODUR® with particularly laser-resistant layers.
For more information: https://www.us.schott.com/advanced_optics/english/products/optical-materials/optical-glass/active-and-passive-laser-glasses/index.html
N-BK7® and ZERODUR® are registered trademarks of SCHOTT AG.
About SCHOTT
SCHOTT is a leading international technology group in the areas of specialty glass and glass-ceramics. The company has more than 130 years of outstanding development, materials, and technology expertise and offers a broad portfolio of high-quality products and intelligent solutions. SCHOTT is an innovative enabler for many industries, including the home appliance, pharmaceutical, electronics, optics, automotive, and aviation industries. SCHOTT strives to play an important part of everyone’s life and is committed to innovation and sustainable success. The group maintains a global presence with production sites and sales offices in 35 countries. With its workforce of approximately 15,400 employees, sales of $2.55 billion were generated in fiscal year 2013/2014. us.schott.com
