Where Optical Domes Can Be Used?

Optical domes are special optical windows with high curvature, high transmittance and durability. They are available in different sizes, sometimes well over 100 mm in diameter.

Optical Domes Can Be Used in the Following Devices.

Cameras

The same optical domes are needed to transmit only visible light, for example for camera systems including underwater cameras. They may be made of the same high quality optical glass as BK7 or fused silica. Glass domes can also be used in the UV range, for example in UV-grade fused silica. For some applications, plastic optics (e.g. acrylic domes) are suitable.

Heat-tracking missiles

Other domes operate in the infrared (infrared optics); for example, such devices are used in heat-tracking missiles. A particularly robust infrared material is sapphire. Other possible options, which partially allow longer wavelengths, are zinc selenide, germanium, silicon and certain ceramics.

Detectors

A wide range of viewing directions is often important. The design of the hemisphere in which the detector is located at its center may be particularly suitable, since all light reaching these settings will be properly incident vertically on the dome surface. Under such conditions, there is no beam deflection and anti-reflective coatings can achieve higher performance than a wide angular range.

Protective Cover

Optical domes are primarily used to protect sensitive systems. For example, LIDAR optical sensors built into aircraft must be protected with very rugged domes to withstand the effects of sand and even high speed impacts by birds. Similarly, the dome of a submarine's video system must withstand high voltage.

Optical domes can also be used in other ways, so if you would like to know more, please contact us and we will provide you with professional answers.