Achromatic Lenses

COE Optics' Achromatic Lenses are used to minimize or eliminate chromatic aberration. The achromatic design also helps minimize spherical aberrations. Achromatic Lenses are ideal for a range of applications, including fluorescence microscopy, image relay, inspection, or spectroscopy. An Achromatic Lens, which is often designed by either cementing two elements together or mounting the two elements in a housing, creates smaller spot sizes than comparable singlet lenses.

An achromatic lens is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane.

The most common type of achromatic lens is the achromatic doublet, which is composed of two individual lenses made from glasses with different amounts of dispersion. Typically, one element is a negative (concave) element made out of flint glass such as F2, which has relatively high dispersion, and the other is a positive (convex) element made of crown glass such as BK7, which has lower dispersion. The lens elements are mounted next to each other, often cemented together, and shaped so that the chromatic aberration of one is counterbalanced by that of the other.

The triplet (three elements) is available, too.

In the most common type, the positive power of the crown lens element is not quite equaled by the negative power of the flint lens element. Together they form a weak positive lens that will bring two different wavelengths of light to a common focus. Negative doublets, in which the negative-power element predominates, are also made.

Achromatic Lenses are ideal for a range of applications, including fluorescence microscopy, image relay, inspection, or spectroscopy.
COE Optics offers a large variety of Achromatic Lenses. Multiple anti-reflection coating options for the Ultraviolet (UV), visible, or Infrared (IR) are available, including UV-VIS, MgF2, VIS 0°, VIS-NIR, NIR II, or SWIR. Additionally, Achromatic Lenses designed specifically for the Ultraviolet (UV) or Infrared (IR) are available, which offer superior performance when compared to a standard Achromatic Lens that has been coated for the same or comparable wavelength range. Aphorized Achromatic Lenses, which combine an Achromatic Lens’ color correction with an A sphere’s superior spherical aberration correction, are also available. Triplet Achromatic Lenses are offered for applications requiring 1:1 conjugate ratios, or high power magnification.