Germanium infrared lens

Material properties of germanium lenses

High refractive index: The refractive index is about 4.0 in the 2-14μm band, which allows the light to focus more precisely when passing through the germanium lens, which is very advantageous for optical systems that need to focus the light highly, such as infrared imaging systems, and can achieve specific focal length requirements at small curvature, thereby reducing the size and weight of the lens.
Low absorption coefficient: The absorption coefficient of infrared light is small, which can minimize the absorption and energy loss of light, so as to improve the efficiency and sensitivity of the optical system, ensure the efficient transmission of infrared light in the lens, so that the infrared imaging equipment can receive signals of sufficient strength to obtain clear images.
Low dispersion rate: it means that germanium lenses can maintain the consistency of focusing at different wavelengths, reduce the impact of color difference, thereby improving the clarity of the image, and provide more accurate optical performance for multi-wavelength or wide-band optical applications, such as spectral analysis, multi-spectral imaging, etc.
Good high temperature resistance: in a certain high temperature range can still maintain its optical performance unchanged, although germanium is seriously affected by temperature, generally can only be applied below 100 degrees Celsius, but in this temperature range, its optical stability makes it suitable for use in some high temperature environments, such as high temperature industrial testing, aerospace and other fields of optical equipment.

High chemical stability: It is inert to air, water, acid, alkali, etc., and is not easy to be corroded and oxidized. It can work statically for a long time under harsh environmental conditions, and is suitable for outdoor, Marine, chemical and other harsh environment application scenarios.

Working principle of germanium lens
Based on the principle of light refraction, refraction occurs when light enters from one medium to another. Germanium lens uses its high refractive index characteristics, so that the light changes the direction of propagation when passing through the lens, according to the curvature and surface shape of the lens, the light is focused on a point or dispersed into a certain Angle, so as to achieve the control of the light and imaging functions.
Germanium lens type

It includes plano-convex lens, plano-concave lens, bifocal lens, bifocal lens, meniscus lens, etc. Different types of germanium lenses have different optical properties and application scenarios. For example, plano-convex lenses are often used to focus parallel light to a single point and can be used in laser focusing systems; Meniscus lenses can increase the numerical aperture of the system without introducing obvious spherical aberrations, and are often used to improve the image quality in imaging systems.

Application field
Infrared imaging field: It is the core component of the infrared thermal imager, forward-looking infrared system and other equipment, which can focus the infrared radiation emitted by the object to the detector, convert the infrared signal into an electrical signal or image signal, and realize the thermal imaging of the target object, which is widely used in military reconnaissance, security monitoring, industrial testing, medical diagnosis and other fields.
Laser technology: Used in laser cutting, welding, marking and other equipment, laser beam focusing, collimation and other operations to ensure that the laser beam can accurately act on the surface of the processed material, improve processing accuracy and efficiency; In the laser communication equipment, the laser signal can be shaped and adjusted to ensure the stability and accuracy of the optical signal during transmission, and improve the communication quality and distance.
Astronomical observation field: In astronomical telescopes, it is used for observation in the infrared band to help astronomers study astronomical phenomena such as star formation and galaxy evolution, and can provide clear infrared images and accurate spectral data due to its high transmittance and low chromatic aberration characteristics of infrared light.

Spectral analysis field: germanium lens as a key component of the infrared spectrometer, through the absorption and transmission of different wavelengths of infrared light, to obtain the spectral information of substances, so as to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis of substances, widely used in chemistry, materials science, biology and other fields of research.