Meller Optics, Inc. is introducing custom fabricated sapphire optics that can withstand saltwater and high pressure, making them ideal for use in military and commercial submersible and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) applications.
Meller Sapphire Optics can be manufactured to specification up to 1″ thick with mounting holes, slots, wedges, special edge treatments, and more. Ideal for installation in submersible and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), sapphire optics are impervious to saltwater and can withstand up to 10,000 psi, depending upon aspect ratio and mounting technique.
Available in round and rectangular configurations, Meller Sapphire Optics can be fabricated as sapphire windows, lenses, and viewports from 1/4″ to 10″ dia. and 1/2 mm to 1″ thick with or without A/R coatings. Featuring Moh 9 hardness which is second only to diamond, windows can be fabricated with flatness held to 0.5 fringes of HeNe and parallelism from 20 to 2 arc/secs.
Meller Sapphire Optics are priced according to configuration, size, and quantity. Literature and price quotations are available upon request. The firm will be exhibiting at Defense, Security and Sensing 2012, Booth #1732 at the Baltimore Convention Center April 24-26, 2012.
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , April 11, 2012; Image: Meller Optics