Ball Lens
A special form of a thick biconvex optical lens is a ball lens, usually having the geometrical form of a ball (sphere). They are manufactured from a single material, usually an optical glass with good transparency in the wavelength region of interest. A frequently used material is fused silica.
Another variant are half-ball lenses, which are obtained simply by cutting ball lenses in half.
Ball lenses are usually made with relatively small diameters of a few millimeters or sometimes even less than 1 mm (microlenses). Particularly for such small dimensions, they are easier to fabricate than lenses with traditional designs.
Applications of Ball Lenses
Ball lenses are used particularly as beam collimators for optical fibers (fiber collimators) and for fiber-to-fiber coupling. They are also suitable for miniature optics with applications like barcode scanning, as objective lenses in endoscopy and for optical sensors. There are also microscope objectives (particularly immersion objectives) which have a hyperhemisphere (e.g., somewhat more than a hemisphere) as the first lens.
Optical Specifications
| Item | Parameter (Optical glass ball lens; Half ball lens) |
| Material | K9 (BK7), Optical sapphire(ruby) glass, fused silica, JGS1, |
| ZnSe, Zns, Ge, Caf2, b270, LaF52, Schott glass |
| Diameter | 1~150mm, 1mm, 2mm, 3mm… |
| Dia. Tolerance | +/-0.002mm |
| Roundness | 0.003-0.005 |
| Surface Accuracy | <2λ |
| Irregularity | λ/2 @632.8nm |
| Surface Quality | <40/20 scratch/dig |
| Clear Aperture | >92% |
| Focal length tolerance | +/-1% (+/-5% for 400 series) |
| Centration | 3 arc min or better |
| Coating | Upon customer request |
Material Characteristics
Fused Silica Ball and Half-Ball Lenses:
1,Excellent UV Transmission
From 200nm to 2200nm
2,Low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion | Sapphire and Ruby Ball Lens(Half ball lens):
1,Excellent for Severe Environments
2,High Strength and Hardness
3,High Chemical Stability
4,Ruby Balls are easier to see |
H-K9L (N-BK7) Ball Lenses:
1,Can be Used as Fiber Coupling Spheres or Collimating Lenses
2,Ideal Pre-Forms for Aspheric Lenses
3,Available in a Variety of Sizes | High Index Ball Lenses:
1,Index of Refraction of 1.8-2.0
2,High Tolerance
3,High Index for a Closer Focal Distance |
Production Line
What's the way of shipping?
We accept DHL, Fedex, TNT, UPS, SF, EMS etc. If you have your own express account, it's great.
How to pay?
(1) T/T, PayPal, West Union,etc
(2) Bank Fee: West Union-USD30.00(≤USD3000.00),
T/T-USD20.00+, PayPal-5%. Please consult the local bank.
What's the deliver time?
For inventory: the delivery time is around 5 workdays.
Customized products: the delivery time is 10 to 30 workdays. According to the quantity and precision.
Can I customize the products based on my need?
Yes, we can customize the material, specifications and optical coating for your optical components based on your needs. OEM is available.
Product Tags:
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H-K9L Glass Ball Lens Images
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