Calcium Fluoride - CaF2

Calcium fluoride (CaF2) is a crystalline compound with a cubic crystal structure. This popular optical material can be used across a wide range of ultraviolet (UV), visible, or infrared (IR) applications due to its unique optical properties.

Here at Global Optics, we manufacture calcium fluoride optical components for various industries.

Why is calcium fluoride used in optics?

Given that calcium fluoride's optical properties are so adaptable across a broad spectrum, many industries can benefit from CaF2 components.

Some of the key optical properties of calcium fluoride include:

High transmittance: Calcium fluoride has a high transmittance across a wide range of wavelengths, making it a useful material for applications in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Low refractive index: Calcium fluoride has a relatively low refractive index of 1.43 or homogeneity, making it useful for optical components such as lenses and prisms.

Low dispersion: Calcium fluoride has a low dispersion, meaning that it can transmit light of different wavelengths without significant colour separation or distortion.

Low absorption: Calcium fluoride has a low absorption coefficient, and therefore can transmit light with minimal loss. This property makes it useful for optical components in high-power laser systems.

High thermal stability: Calcium fluoride has a high thermal stability, allowing it to be used in high-temperature applications without significant degradation of its optical properties.

High resistance to radiation damage: Calcium fluoride is highly resistant to radiation damage, making it useful in applications that involve radiation exposure.

High damage threshold and mechanical strength: The mechanical properties of calcium fluoride include an impressive ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 34.1 to 157 MPa. CaF2 also offers excellent water, chemical, and heat resistance.

Calcium fluoride optical components

Overall, the combination of high transmittance, low absorption, low dispersion, and high thermal stability makes calcium fluoride a useful material for a variety of optical applications.

Thanks to the high-grade calcium fluoride we use, the potential for light scattering is usually low.

Lenses

We supply premium-quality calcium fluoride optical lenses for various applications, including vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, semiconductor lithography, thermal imaging devices and excimer lasers.

Calcium fluoride lenses can also be used in cohesion with optical fibres in various optical devices to boost stability.

Prisms

At Global Optics, our CaF2 prisms can be used for wavelength separation and image rotation applications, and IR and UV optics.

Windows

Our calcium fluoride optical windows are ideal for spectroscopy applications, UV laser systems and fluorescence imaging, offering excellent performance, as well as water and fogging resistance.

Thanks to its low refractive index, CaF2 windows are also ideal for high-precision applications, such as microscopes and telescopes.

Mirrors

Our mirrors made from calcium fluoride have been used in various laser and industrial machinery, including excimer lasers, free-space lasers and cryogenically cooled thermal imaging systems.

Contact us about calcium fluoride optics

Here at Global Optics, we're experienced and trusted suppliers of calcium fluoride optics, from lenses and windows to prisms and other optical components.

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