Optical Bonding
Our patented adhesive-free bonding process, Hy-Per Bond™, overcomes issues such as beam distortion and performance degradation resulting from the outgassing of optical cement.
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Products
Superpolishing
Superpolishing offers significantly superior performance in applications that benefit from very low surface roughness.
Achieving a Scratch-Dig of 5-2, a surface roughness of less than 0.5 A, and zero defects at 300x magnification, most superpolished optics are supplied with polished or acid-etched outside diameters and bevels, adding to the level of cleanliness and durability of the components.
Superpolished materials include N-BK7, calcium fluoride, crystal quarz, fused silica, sapphire, silicon carbide, YAG, Nd:YAG, and ZERODUR.
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Sapphire Polishing
Sapphire is a unique material well suited for many ultraprecision optical applications. It is transparent from the lower UV (142 nm) through the mid-infrared (6.5 µm). Its high tensile strength makes it well suited to many high g-force environments.
In addition, sapphire is very tolerant of high radiation environments, such as space-based applications. Due to its high mechanical strength, sapphire is a very difficult material to polish. Our unique superpolishing processes allow us to polish sapphire components to better than 1 Å surface roughness.
Silicon Carbide Polishing
Silicon carbide (SiC) is often used in the optics industry to replace components previously manufactured out of beryllium. The material offers a viable alternative with low weight, high specific stiffness, high thermal conductivity, and excellent dimensional stability. We have developed expertise in polishing silicon carbide mirrors and can polish CVD SILICON CARBIDE™ and lightweight versions of this material.
We also offer customer-supplied substrate polishing services. Additionally, we offer SiC cladding with IBS coatings to ensure the finest possible final surface finish. Lastly, we also supply optical coatings on the finished mirror.
Comparison of three superpolish providers
| G&H | Competitor A | Competitor B | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surface Roughness (RMS) | <0.5Å | <1Å | <0.5Å |
| Scratch Dig | <5-2 | 10-5 | Not specified |
| Inspection Magnification for defects | 300x | 20x | >100x |
| Surface Accuracy | <lambda/50 | <lambda/10 | <lambda/20 |
| Shapes | Flat, curved, multiple surfaces | Flat | Flat, curved, multiple surfaces |
| Materials | Si, SiC, sapphire, ZERODUR, BK7, fused silica, crystal quartz, YAG , CaF2, quartz, YAG, LuAg and others. | Fused silica | FS, BK7, ZERODUR and others |
G&H Precision Optics Brochure
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