Ø1" UV Fused Silica Best Form Spherical Lenses, Uncoated

Zemax Files
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Features

• Best Possible Performance from a Spherical Singlet
• Fabricated from UV-Grade Fused Silica
• Uncoated for 185 nm - 2.1 μm Transmission
• Focal Lengths Available from 40.0 mm to 200.0 mm
• Diffraction-Limited Performance at Small Input Diameters

Thorlabs' UV-Grade Fused Silica (UVFS) Best Form Lenses are designed to minimize spherical aberration while still using spherical surfaces to form the lens. They are typically employed at infinite conjugates in high-power applications where doublets are not an option. The best form lenses available on this page are fabricated from uncoated UVFS; please see the selection guide below to view our complete selection of best form lenses.

UV-grade fused silica offers high transmission in the deep UV and exhibits virtually no laser-induced fluorescence (as measured at 193 nm), making it an ideal choice for applications from the UV to the near IR. In addition, UV fused silica has better homogeneity and a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than N-BK7.

For spherical lenses, a given focal length can be produced by more than one combination of the front and back radii of curvature. Each combination of surface curvatures will result in a different amount of aberration caused by the lens. The radius of curvature for each surface of these best form lenses has been chosen to minimize the spherical aberration and coma produced by the lens, optimizing it for use at infinite conjugates. This process makes these lenses more expensive than plano-convex or bi-convex lenses, but still significantly less expensive than our premium line of CNC-polished aspheric lenses. Since the lenses are optimized for minimum spot size, they can theoretically reach diffraction-limited performance for small input beam diameters (see the table below and to the right for details).

For best performance in focusing applications, place the surface with the shorter radius of curvature (i.e., the more steeply curved surface) towards the collimated source.