SWIR series
SWIR fixed focal length lenses for InGaAs sensors up to 21mm
Key advantages
- High resolution
Designed for high resolution detectors up to 15 μm pixel pitch and 21 mm diameter. - Custom mount interface
Can be provided upon request. - Large field of view and low distortion
Superior optical performances.
SWIR series is a range of short-wave infrared lenses specifically designed to operate in the 0.9-1.7 µm wavelenght region. This serie has been specifically designed to match the new 15 µm format InGaAs FPA Focal Plane Arrays.
These lenses offer an industry standard C-mount threaded style interface or, alternatively, they can be equipped with a custom mount interface.
In the design of the lenses, great importance was attached to a good image quality and a large aperture (small F/#). These lenses, mounted on a SWIR camera, are the perfect choice for a variety of applications, including solar cell inspection, night vision imaging of outdoors scenes without additional illumination (security applications), detecting bruises on fruit, imaging through silicon, biomedical imaging and many other infrared applications.
Why invest in a SWIR lens?
Although standard visible lenses can be deployed with InGaAs cameras (SWIR wavelengths can pass through common glass), only SWIR lenses can fully exploit the performance of near-IR cameras, providing the sharpest image for your application.
How can we achieve this kind of performance? SWIR lenses are specifically designed to operate in the SWIR band (0.9-1.7 µm wavelength region) as opposed to common visible-light lenses. For more information on how to assess SWIR lenses performance you can refer to this article.
Notes
- Working distance: distance between the front end of the mechanics and the object.
- Percent deviation of the real image compared to an ideal, undistorted image.
- Measured from the front end of the mechanics to the camera flange at infinite focusing.
- Given with no mount attached. See layout drawings.
Coating
Opto Engineering® MWIR and LWIR thermal lenses are HCAR coated. These thermal lenses are specifically designed to meet the needs of those applications with optical elements exposed to harsh environments, such as military vehicles and outdoor thermal cameras. This coating offers highly protective properties coupled with good anti-reflective performance, protecting the outer optical surfaces from high velocity airborne particles, seawater, engine fuel and oils, high humidity, improper handling, etc.. It offers great resistance to abrasion, salts, acids, alkalis, and oil.
Interface
All Opto Engineering® IR lenses can be equipped with any custom mount interface. Each infrared camera comes with a different detector format and a different mount interface. This is why Opto Engineering® has decided to provide any custom mount interface with any infrared lens at no additional cost so that these lenses can be integrated with any camera mount.
Focusing
Manual focusing mechanism, large field of view and low distortion.
High Resolution
Opto Engineering® infrared lenses are designed for high resolution detectors up to 15 μm pixel pitch and 21 mm diameter. Common infrared lenses are designed and optimized for Focal plane arrays (FPAs) with 30 μm pixel pitch. However, as a trend, pixels are constantly decreasing their size: Opto Engineering® IR lenses are compatible with the newest high resolution FPAs.
Specific quality testing system
Since no standardized and/or appropriate quality measurement system is available, Opto Engineering® designed and developed a specific optical test bench for Infrared (IR) optics. The system design is based on Opto Engineering® proprietary design optical benches used in the visible range.
Opto Engineering® developed reliable test procedures for checking IR optics quality and resolution (MTF: Modulation Transfer Function): each lens is checked by an experienced operator.
Athermalization
Opto Engineering® R&D team has proven expertise in designing challenging and demanding custom projects that successfully integrate optics and their mechanical housing.
Upon request, Our engineering® team can develop both active and passive athermalized systems, either optically or mechanically compensated, that work in environments characterised by significant temperature changes.
Example of SWIR imaging
