Cleveland Crystals and Smithsonian Coat Meter-Class Optics with Sol Gel

CLEVELAND, Ohio, March 20 -- Cleveland Crystals, a provider of laser optics products, with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, has completed a two-year research effort, resulting in the deposition of Sol Gel Antireflective (AR) coatings on large-scale windows, prisms, and lenses, up to 0.8 meters diameter. The proprietary Sol Gel coatings are readily deposited on a wide variety of substrate materials and the pass-band can be centered to within 10 nanometers across the clear aperture.
The coatings are broadband in nature, with reflective losses typically less than 1 percent per surface across hundreds of nanometers. This significantly reduces the stack-up losses associated with uncoated multi-element assemblies. The coatings are removable and do not require repolishing the substrate. Because the operation is performed in ambient conditions, the process represents a low-risk alternative to limited-availability conventional vacuum-based multilayer dielectric coatings. Optics up to 1-meter diameter can be coated at the Cleveland Crystals production facility.