Uses for Ball Lensess
Ball lenses are mainly used within the fibre optics industry. They are used in ball lens connectors where fast and efficient detachable coupling is required in fibre optic applications such as:
- Laser-to-Fibre Coupling
- Fibre-to-Fibre Coupling
- Fibre-to-Detector Coupling
The choice of optical ball lens depends on various parameters such as the diameter of the Laser beam, numerical aperture (NA) of the fibre and the wavelength of the light source. Ball Lens Calculations .
Ball lenses are ideal for use in expanded beam connectors. This type of connector is used in high vibration and/or dirty environments.
As shown in the diagram, the outgoing beam from a fibre optic is expanded by the first ball lens and is transmitted through an air gap into the second ball lens where it is collimated into the joining optical fibre. By expanding the beam, its relative size increases with respect to the debris making it less susceptible to interference. Also with having an air gap between the two ball lenses this reduces component-to-component wear, which in turn increases the components endurance to vibration.
This type of rugged fibre optic product can be used in:
- Aerospace
- Avionics
- Field deployable communication systems
- Marine applications
- Mobile diagnostic units
- Oil and gas exploration and other harsh and demanding environments.
The ball lens provides greater coupling efficiency than a typical thin lens, plus they are easier to line up within the components as the ball lens has uniform optical properties.
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