Materials

Optical Materials for Lens and Lens Array Design

We offer optical-quality acrylic, polycarbonate, cyclic olefin copolymers (COC), and other specialized materials for the visible light spectrum. These materials transmit somewhat in the near infrared and ultraviolet as well. POLY IR® is our registered trademark for our line of infrared-transmitting polymers.  Fresnel Technologies, Inc. produces infrared transmitting Fresnel lenses in seven materials, each with unique transmittance capabilities for a wide variety of applications. This graph can be useful in determining which materials are appropriate in the wavelength range of interest for your application.

Materials for visible and Near infrared (nir)

Acrylic 

  • Most widely applicable
  • General-purpose material in the visible light region
  • Transmittance is nearly flat and is almost 92% from the UV to the near-infrared
  • Available in standard, impact modified, UV transmitting and UV filtering grades

Cyclic Olefin Copolymers (COC) 

  • Offer acrylic-like transparency in the visible and UVA ranges with a higher index of refraction
  • Superior chemical resistance and lower water absorption than acrylic
  • Grades available with low birefringence, biocompatibility and/or resistance to high power NIR or blue light
  • Can be coated

Polycarbonate

  • Spectrally similar to acrylic
  • Useful at higher temperatures and very impact resistant
  • Standard thicknesses available in polycarbonate are 0.015" (0.38 mm), 0.030" (0.76 mm), 0.050" (1.3 mm), 0.060" (1.5 mm), and 0.125" (3.2 mm). 0.015" and 0.030" are the preferred thicknesses for polycarbonate, unless an item cannot be molded in one of those thicknesses
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Materials resources 

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POLY IR® Infrared Transmitting Materials

PIR Applications

Other Applications

POLY IR® 2
Flexible, whitish plastic.
Best transmittance in the 8-14µm region of any PIR-suitable POLY IR® material.
Ultraviolet stabilized, with a lifetime of many years in direct sun.

POLY IR® 3
Superior performance at wavelengths beyond 12 µm.
Not UV stabilized.

POLY IR® 4
Pigmented version of POLY IR® 2 material.
Variety of colors available.
Ultraviolet stabilized, with a lifetime of many years in direct sun.

POLY IR® 5
Contains no Hydrogen. 
Free from strong 3.4µm absorption found in all hydrocarbon polymers.
Suitable for process monitoring near 3.4µm.
Clear in the visible range, UV stabilized. 

POLY IR® 9

Pigmented version of POLY IR® 2, that reduces false alarms due to "white light".
Variety of colors available.
Slightly less transmissive in the 8-14µm region than POLY IR® 4 material.
Ultraviolet stabilized, with a lifetime of many years in direct sun.

POLY IR® 6

Visible light filtering, infrared transmitting polymer.
Black in visible light.
Sharp cutoff at wavelength 780nm.
UV stabilized.

download our poly ir® Materials brochure:

POLY IR Brochure

Fresnel Technologies

Fresnel Technologies, Inc. specializes in the design and manufacturing of molded plastic Fresnel lenses, molded polymer optics in general, and infrared-transmitting optical materials. We offer design assistance, diamond machining, prototyping, tooling, and production. Stock or custom, we’re your optics partner.

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101 W. Morningside Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76110

Phone: (817) 926-7474
info@fresneltech.com