Meller Optics, Inc. has introduced a line of spinel and ALON optics for a wide range of missile, drone, and night vision system applications requiring a durable and chemical-resistant material.
Meller Spinel and ALON Optics are transparent in spectral regions where glass is opaque, are about 10X more abrasion-resistant, and offer superior chemical-resistance transmission in the UV through MWIR.
Manufactured using powder processing techniques, these optical ceramics can be produced in large sizes and complex shapes and retain up to 75% of their strength at 1,000ºC.
Optically isotropic which eliminates birefringence effects, Meller Spinel and ALON Optics are available in sizes up to 18” x 35” in production quantities. Spinel and ALON Optics exhibit 1650 and 1870 Knoop hardness and up 70-300 and 300-700 MPa strength respectively. They can be finished with less than 60-40 scratch-dig surface quality, less than 1 fringe flatness at 633 nm, less than 1 arc-min parallelism, and polished bevel on two sides.
