Protected aluminum and enhanced aluminum start from the same vacuum-deposited aluminum film. The difference is what goes on top: protected aluminum adds a single dielectric overcoat that stops oxidation and makes the surface cleanable, with almost no change to the reflectance curve, while enhanced aluminum…
From September 9–11, 2026, the 27th China International Optoelectronic Exposition, CIOE 2026, will take place at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, Bao’an. This year, GIAI Photonics will be exhibiting in two professional halls, each focusing on a different area of optical technology. 📍…
The choice between a metallic mirror and a dielectric mirror comes down to one trade: bandwidth versus reflectance. A metallic mirror reflects moderately well (roughly 90% to 98%) across an extremely wide spectral range and barely cares about angle of incidence. A dielectric mirror reflects…
Choosing a narrow bandpass filter manufacturer comes down to three questions: can their coating process hold your center wavelength tolerance across the full clear aperture, do they measure the filter under your actual angle and cone conditions, and is the blocking specification real across your…
Choosing a ZnSe lens manufacturer comes down to three things you can actually verify: the grade and traceability of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) zinc selenide blank, the measured bulk absorption at your operating wavelength, and whether the polishing and coating processes hold surface figure…
Searching for a custom optics manufacturer in China usually means the optical function is already known, a drawing exists, or a prototype needs to be converted into a repeatable production component. The difficult part is not finding a company that can make a lens, filter,…
An aspheric lens corrects spherical aberration in a single element. An achromatic lens corrects chromatic aberration by combining two glasses with opposing dispersion. The aspheric lens vs achromatic lens decision therefore reduces to one question: is your dominant error source geometry or wavelength? A monochromatic…
Use a V-coat when the optic sees one laser line and you need the last fraction of a percent of transmission. Use a broadband anti-reflection (BBAR) coating when the optic has to work across a spectral band, or when a second wavelength such as an…
The difference between IBS vs IAD optical coating comes down to how much kinetic energy the film-forming atoms carry when they land, and what that energy buys you. Ion beam sputtering (IBS) delivers sputtered atoms with several to tens of electronvolts, producing amorphous, essentially fully…
A flat-top bandpass filter holds near-peak transmission across the whole passband and then drops steeply at both edges. A Gaussian bandpass filter reaches maximum transmission only at the center wavelength and falls away gradually on either side. The choice between a flat-top vs Gaussian bandpass…
The practical difference between OD4 vs OD6 optical filter blocking is a factor of 100 in transmitted unwanted light. OD4 permits a maximum transmittance of 10-4, or 0.01%, while OD6 corresponds to 10-6, or 0.0001%. That difference can be important when a detector must separate…
To choose an optical filter for machine vision, start from the illumination spectrum rather than the filter catalog. Match the filter passband to the light your system actually uses, then verify that the passband still lines up once you account for the range of angles…
