company news about Design and Application of Optical Domes

Design and Application of Optical Domes

An optical dome is an optical component with a spherical or hemispherical shape, widely used in various optical systems. It is typically employed to protect internal elements of an optical system from external environmental influences while allowing the free transmission of light. Optical domes play a critical role in fields such as aerospace, military, marine exploration, and security surveillance.

1.Design Principles of Optical Domes
The design of an optical dome must consider both its optical and mechanical properties. The dome is usually shaped as a hemisphere or hyper-hemisphere, featuring two concentric spherical surfaces to effectively reduce optical distortion. During design, it is essential to ensure that the parallelism tolerance of the dome is less than 2 μm to guarantee high-precision optical performance.

2.Material Selection
Material selection for optical domes is crucial. Commonly used materials include optical glass (e.g., N-BK7, N-BK10), sapphire, and polymers. These materials offer excellent light transmission and heat resistance, making them suitable for various optical systems and environmental conditions. For example, N-BK7 glass is often used in visible light applications due to its wide-angle characteristics and is ideal for protecting deep-sea cameras.

3.Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing process of optical domes includes optical design, mold fabrication, injection molding, and surface treatment. Advanced micro-nano processing technologies and inspection equipment ensure the high precision and quality of the domes. For instance, Longway Glass utilizes injection molding technology to produce optical domes for surveillance cameras, successfully addressing the challenges of mold fabrication and processing for complex optical products.

4.Application Areas
Optical domes are widely used in multiple fields:

   4.1.Aerospace and Military: Used to protect optical systems in aircraft and missiles, meeting fluid dynamics requirements.

   4.2.Marine Exploration: Employed in deep-sea cameras and submersibles to provide wide-angle views and high light transmission.

   4.3.Security Surveillance: Used in surveillance cameras to deliver high-quality images and weather resistance.

As an important optical component, optical domes have broad application prospects. Through continuous technological innovation and material improvements, optical domes will play a significant role in even more fields.