Sapphire Lenses From Meller Are Custom Fabricated for Space Telescopes and Satellites

PROVIDENCE, RI--(Marketwire - May 11, 2011) - Meller Optics, Inc. custom manufactures sapphire lenses for aerospace applications such as the field flattener focusing lenses used in CCD arrays on the Kepler Space Telescope.

Meller Sapphire Lenses are custom manufactured with surface finishes from 60-40 to 40-20 scratch-dig, flatness held to 0.5 fringes of HeNe, and parallelism from 20 to 2 arc/secs., depending upon configuration. Selected by NASA for use in the CCD arrays on the Kepler Space Telescope, these sapphire field flattener focusing lenses withstand extreme conditions.

Impervious to water, most acids, alkalis, abrasion from fast-moving particulates, temperatures to 1,000°C, and pressures up to 10,000 psi, Meller Sapphire Lenses can be manufactured in sizes from 3/8" to 4" dia. and varying wall thicknesses with ±0.001" tolerances in plano-convex, -concave, meniscus, and dome configurations. Edges can be beveled and polished.

Meller Sapphire Lenses are priced according to configuration, size, and quantity. Literature and price quotations are available upon request.

About Meller Optics, Inc.

Founded in 1921, Meller Optics has been providing high quality optics to defense, medical, laser, and industrial markets for 90 years now. Specializing in the grinding and polishing of hard, durable materials such as sapphire and ruby, the company has also developed high-speed, low-cost finishing processes for a variety of optical materials such as laser glasses, fused silica, zinc selenide, germanium, silicon, fluorides, and ceramic materials. Configurations include windows, substrates, lenses, domes, and prisms. Meller Optics is ISO 9001:2008 certified and in addition to providing standard, off-the-shelf products, they custom fabricate components that meet exacting specifications from delicate, difficult to work with optical materials. They also supply quality Microlux Alumina polishing abrasives and Gugolz optical polishing pitch.