When specifying a mirror, beamsplitter, filter, or other coated optical component, choosing between a dielectric coating and a metallic coating is not simply a question of which one has higher reflectivity. The two coating families produce optical behavior through different physical mechanisms. Metallic coatings are…
A telecentric lens keeps image magnification essentially constant while the object moves along the optical axis, within a defined telecentric range. A conventional imaging lens does not: as the object moves closer or farther, its image grows or shrinks. That single difference decides most selection…
Choosing a fluorescence filter manufacturer is not simply a matter of ordering a filter at a nominal wavelength. A fluorescence optical system must separate relatively strong excitation light from the fluorescence signal that the detector is intended to measure. The required filter therefore has to…
Choosing a precision optical components manufacturer is mostly a question of process control, not company size. A supplier that builds to your drawing has to control three things that determine whether the part works in your system: the geometry produced by fabrication, the spectral behaviour…
