Aluminum Mirrors
 Aluminum
and Aluminum alloys are popular for making lightweight scanning
mirrors, galvo mirrors, or where overall weight is an issue,
such as in aerospace, defense, and medical optical systems.
Because Aluminum surfaces react with the atmosphere and lose
reflectivity, most, but not all, Aluminum mirrors are used with
a thin film optical coating, to improve reflectance, and
durability.
Laser Beam Products offer several coatings:
It is possible to have a thin film vacuum deposited coating
optimised for other specific wavelengths, or several multiple
wavelengths.
To improve the laser damage resistance, and reduce scatter, LBP
Aluminum mirrors have an intermediate layer of electroless
nickel deposited. This gives an amorphous, non crystalline
surface of exceptional smoothness. Electroless Nickel also
protects the whole of the mirror from oxidation.
Aluminum mirrors are chemically polished, the surfaces are super
smooth and are free of turning lines, fly cutting arcs, and
diffractive patterns that lower the surface quality of diamond
turned mirrors.
Finally our proprietary stress relieving, and heat treatment
gives long term stability and performance across a wide range of
temperatures.
Aluminum based mirrors are a good alternative to Silicon mirrors
in laser scanning and galvo applications, as
Aluminum is far easier to engineer into complex shapes. Further
weight saving is possible by using ribbed and pocketed designs
on the rear of the mirrors.
Laser Beam Products can make mirrors from intricately engineered
parts where one face is needed to be a laser grade mirror
surface. We can make flat and spherically curved Aluminium
optics with various coatings.
Care should be taken in using metal optics to avoid Galvanic
corrosion, In the presence of moisture or water cooling
dissimilar metals will cause electrochemical decomposition.
Electroless Nickel plating can reduce this problem.
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