Cylindrical Lenses

Cylindrical lenses are transparent optical components consisting of one or more pieces of optical glass with surfaces so curved (usually spherical) that they serve to converge or diverge the transmitted rays from an object, thus forming a real or virtual image of that object. Cylindrical lenses are used to spread or focus light in one plane.

Description

As a special form of cylinder lens, the achromatic cylindrical lens consists of two elements, usually of crown and flint glass, such that the composite element has been corrected for chromatic aberration with respect to two selected wavelengths. In these lenses, chromatic, spherical and coma aberrations are considerably reduced. These components are designed with respect to three wavelengths: 480 nm, 546nm and 644nm. Use achromats to replace singlets where performance must be improved.

Artifex also offers custom rod lenses for various applications. Rod lenses have the shape of a cylinder with a polished surface and are used to focus light in a line, analogous to cylindrical lenses. A wide range of substrates, available in custom sizes, specifications and coatings to suit your requirements.

Specifications

Specification	Available Quality
Range of dimensions	1mm – 300mm
Highest available surface figure	λ/10 (DIN: 3/0.2)
Highest available surface quality	20-10 S/D (DIN: 5/2×0.1)

In addition to our custom components, we offer a selection of standard lenses for prototyping and experimenting. Please see the “Download” tab for a list of available products.