Meller Optics Inc. custom-fabricates hard sapphire optics that are chemically inert and operate over a broad spectrum for use in blood-gas monitors and other medical instruments. Impervious to low-temperature chlorine and fluorine gas, blood, and most chemicals, the sapphire devices transmit light in wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet through 4.7 µm and at rates up to 85% when uncoated. They can also be coated to achieve potentially better than 99% transmission, depending on thickness. Manufactured to specification, they can be fabricated with diameters ranging from ¼ to 10 in. and with thicknesses of 0.5 mm to 1 in. In addition, they can be provided with a variety of custom surface and edge treatments. These optics can be supplied with holes and slots in window, flat and stepped, concave or convex, and round or square configurations. Suitable for glass-to-metal sealing or brazing into Kovar sleeves, they exhibit flatness to 1⁄10th wave, parallelism to 2 in., and surface finishes that can be smoother than 0.5 nm.

Meller Optics Inc.
Providence, RI