Other materials

Other materials

We are always happy to make trials on novel materials and over the years we’ve accumulated a database of dozens that we have production processes prepared for. These include molybdenum, tungsten, aluminium, ARCAP, brass, Be-Cu, nickel, titanium, ceramics, alloys and 406 stainless steel.

Contact us for more information on Other materials

Beryllium/Copper alloy

Not to be confused with pure beryllium metal, which as a dust is highly toxic, beryllium/copper (Be-Cu) is an alloy that has useful properties for elastic or deformable structures, such as adaptive mirrors and deformable mirrors.

LBP Optics has developed annealing and plating techniques to make highly accurate Be/Cu mirrors that are easily deformable in a controlled way and elastic enough to return to their original surface form.

To date we have made gold coatings and MaxR coatings on these types of mirrors, but we think customers will find uses and applications we have yet to think of for these very useful products. Please contact us with your ideas!

Hardened Metal Mirrors

There are many industries where the demands on an optical mirror are more than reflectivity and laser damage threshold. For example, surface hardness, chemical resistance and magnetic properties might be important.

We have had several requests for more unusual materials. We have made square mirrors from EN31 (a tool steel hardened to Rockwell 60-64) and we’ve produced mirrors from the more exotic titanium (Grade 5) which is widely used in the aerospace and medical industries.

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, the different alloy ratios can give metals with varying properties such as naval brass and DZR brass.

The absence of ferromagnetism can be useful and its corrosion resistance means it finds uses in water, steam and boiler equipment. It’s a popular metal in scientific instruments, as it will not spark.

Brass responds well to photochemical milling, allowing thin intricate structures to be made economically. It also plates with electroless nickel extremely well, allowing it to be gold plated.

Transmissive Materials

Our sister company ULO Optics manufactures a wide range of transmissive optics for laser and thermal imaging applications. ULO is a leading supplier of optical lenses and windows produced from Zinc Selenide, Zinc Sulfide, Germanium, Silicon and optical glass, from raw material processing through to fully finished, polished and coated optics.