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Optical Materials for Lens and Lens Array Design

We offer optical-quality acrylic, polycarbonate, cyclic olefin copolymers (COC), and other specialized materials for the visible light spectrum, that also transmit somewhat in the near-infrared and ultraviolet as well.

FTI produces infrared transmitting Fresnel lenses in six different POLY IR® materials, each with unique transmittance capabilities that make it suitable for certain applications. 

Some of Our Materials For Visible and Near-Infrared (NIR)

This graph can be useful in determining which materials are appropriate in the wavelength range of interest for your application.

Acrylic

  • Most widely applicable

  • General-purpose material in the visible light region

  • Transmittance is nearly flat and is almost 92% from the UV to the near-infrared

  • Available in standard, impact modified, UV transmitting and UV filtering grades

Cyclic Olefin Copolymers (COC)

  • Offer acrylic-like transparency in the visible and UVA ranges with a higher index of refraction

  • Superior chemical resistance and lower water absorption than acrylic

  • Grades available with low birefringence, biocompatibility and/or resistance to high power NIR or blue light

  • Very soft and typically require anti-reflection or hard coating

  • Grades available with low birefringence, very low autofluorescence, biocompatibility and/or resistance to high power NIR or blue light

Polycarbonate

  • Typical trade names include Zeonex®, Zeonor®, and TOPAS® 
  • Spectrally similar to acrylic, with higher index of refraction than either acrylic or COCs

  • Useful at higher temperatures and very impact resistant

  • Still somewhat soft and may require hard coating to avoid scratching

  • Standard thicknesses available in polycarbonate Fresnel lenses, lenticular arrays, windows, and similar products are 0.015" (0.38 mm), 0.030" (0.76 mm), 0.050" (1.3 mm), 0.060" (1.5 mm), and 0.125" (3.2 mm). 0.015" and 0.030", unless an item cannot be molded in one of those thicknesses

  • Continuous surface aspheres, freeform optics, and similar relatively thick optics can be injection molded from polycarbonate

Silicone

  • Much more resistant to higher temperatures, UV, and humidity than acrylic
  • Available in biocompatible materials, even for compact devices
  • Somewhat UV transmitting, with high transmittance from ~350 nm to ~1600 nm
  • Typical grades have refractive index around 1.41, but much higher-index grades are available and suitable for some applications
  • Suited for advanced lighting applications in the UV, VIS, and NIR, as well as biomedical applications 

Materials Resources

Learn more about our high-quality optical materials and how we can support your application:

Materials-FresnelProducts.Large

POLY IR® Infrared Transmitting Materials

POLY IR® is our registered trademark for our line of infrared-transmitting polymers.

PIR Applications Other Applications

POLY IR® 2
Flexible, whitish plastic.

Best transmittance in the 8-14µm region of any PIR-suitable POLY IR® material.
Ultraviolet stabilized, with a lifetime of many years in direct sun.

POLY IR® 3
Superior performance at wavelengths beyond 12 µm.

Not UV stabilized.

POLY IR® 4
Pigmented version of POLY IR® 2 material.
Variety of colors available.
Ultraviolet stabilized, with a lifetime of many years in direct sun.

POLY IR® 5
Contains no Hydrogen. 
Free from strong 3.4µm absorption found in all hydrocarbon polymers.
Suitable for process monitoring near 3.4µm.
Clear in the visible range, UV stabilized. 

POLY IR® 9
Pigmented version of POLY IR® 2, reduces false alarms due to "white light".

Variety of colors available.
Slightly less transmissive in the 8-14µm region than POLY IR® 4 material.
Ultraviolet stabilized, with a lifetime of many years in direct sun.

POLY IR® 6
Visible light filtering, infrared transmitting polymer.

Black in visible light.
Sharp cutoff at wavelength 780nm.
UV stabilized.

 

Fresnel Technologies

Fresnel Technologies, Inc. has specialized in high-precision polymer optics for nearly forty years. Our cutting-edge designs and unique expertise in molding and machining bring you the highest quality optics every time.

In order to best support our customers, we offer guidance and assistance throughout the entire product development process. From design, through prototyping, to production, we enable innovative optical systems.

Stock or custom, we’re your optics partner.

Contact Us

101 W. Morningside Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76110

Phone: (817) 926-7474
info@fresneltech.com

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