Optical coatings can be the most critical portion of the finished optical component and determine system performance and reliability. Clear Align has extensive optical coating capabilities, and expertise in producing coatings for advanced applications and harsh environment. We provide a variety of coating options including the UV, Visible, NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR portions of the spectrum.
We provide full coating design and verification services in-house. Optical coatings are composed of thin layers of materials including oxides, metals, and rare earth elements designed to enhance the transmission, reflection, or polarization properties of an optical component. The performance of an optical coating is dependent on the process cleanliness, number of layers, layer thickness, and the refractive index difference between layers. At Clear Align we bring an understanding of optical coating theory, material science and manufacturing methodology. Let us design a coating to meet your program’s needs.
Clear Align begins with automated ultrasonic cleaning that provides a meticulously surface for optical coatings. This process is critical to adhesion and long-term reliability.
After coating we utilized modernized inspection techniques and equipment and inspect to ANSI, MILSPEC, and ISO 10110 standards. This disciplined process eliminates guesswork for inspectors and offer standardized quality control.
Diamond-like carbon coatings (DLC) ensure system performance in extreme environments. Clear Align provides DLC to protect infrared optical systems against salt, fog and sand. Our coating offers an impressive level of stability in addition to high transmission and are qualified for extreme environments. We verify our DLC coating using military and commercial and tests the optical coating by subjecting them to significant mechanical stress. We coat a variety of materials and would be pleased to create a design that meets your individual requirements.
Notch Filters are used in a variety of applications including military safety, spectroscopy, microscopy, laser-based instrumentation, and in polarization-controlled devices. Notch Filters selectively reject a portion of the spectrum, while transmitting other wavelengths utilizing multi-layer dielectric coatings to reflect specific wavelengths. Clear Align offers a wide variety of optical filters from in the UV, Visible, NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR portions of the spectrum. We also provide multi-band notch filters that enable rejection of multiple narrow bands.
Decades of design and fabrication of thin film coating has enabled us to develop a broad array of AR coatings. We are able to offer coating services on a wide range of substrate materials and maintain a library of over 2,000 coating fixtures that enable quick-turn programs. Unique geometries are no problem as we design and fabricate tooling in-house as well. Our thin film design software enables us to create the best coating solution for your needs. We also offer small run prototyping services and in-house qualification testing to be certain that our coatings will be the ideal option for your high-volume.