Knight Optical’s Sapphire Ball Lenses for Fibre Optics

28 Jun 2021

As well as the sought-after Sapphire substrate, our Ball Lenses are also available in a wide range of high-specification materials – such as Ruby, Quartz and BK7 (or equivalent). These premium-quality, metrology-tested Lenses are available as Custom-Made Components to meet the exact needs of your fibre optic application’s requirements or from our wide-ranging portfolio of Stock Optics – for projects demanding quicker turnaround times.

As their name suggests, Ball Lenses are entirely spherical in formation and primarily manufactured from High Refractive Index Glass – such as Sapphire. Due to their ability to focus and couple light in and out of fibres, Ball Lenses are most commonly used for fibre optic applications. And as Sapphire is one of the hardest materials – making these Ball Lenses highly resistant to damage – they are highly desirable for fibre optic devices. The Ball Lenses themselves are typically used in pairs with one lens acting as a collimator and a second used to focus light back into the coupled fibre. They also have a short back focal length, which is critical for precision coupling, where space is limited.

Knight Optical’s Ball Lenses are manufactured from a single substrate and; therefore, depending on the geometry of the input source, can focus or collimate light. Furthermore, our Half Ball Lenses can also be used as an interchange with a full Ball Lens – for more compact designs.

Typical specs:

Material: Sapphire (Al2O3) Random and C-Cut grades

Diameter tolerance: +/-2.5µm

Figure (sphericity): 1λ

Focal length tolerance:

± 0.2% (<10mm)

± 2.0% (10-1000mm)

± 5.0% (>1000mm)

Wavelength range: 0.17 – 5.5µm

Surface quality: <40-20 Scratch/Dig

Coating: A range of Anti-reflective (AR) coating options

First-Class Quality

Quality is the driving force behind Knight Optical, and to ensure you profit from high-precision optics, we take the utmost care to ensure every component accurately meets your specifications. Offering unparalleled service, Knight Optical undertakes a full inspection of your optics from our ISO 9001:2015-certified, state-of-the-art Metrology Laboratory, followed by a meticulous visual examination by our dedicated QA department.

To discover how we can enhance your supply chain experience and to learn more about our stock and custom-made Ball Lenses, contact a member of our technical sales team today.

UK, Europe, Asia & RoW: E-mail info@knightoptical.co.uk

Tel +44 (0)1622 859444

USA & Canada: E-mail usasales@knightoptical.com

Tel +001 401-583-7846