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Field Notes From the Optics Floor
Written by engineers, not marketers.
The American Photonics Blog
Field Notes From the Optics Floor
Supply chains, materials physics, compliance, and hard-won shop lessons — written by engineers, not marketers.
Germanium After the Ban: Dates, Prices, and the Dual-Sourcing Math
The verified export-control timeline (2023–2026), price history to $8,597/kg, recycling economics, and the dual-sourcing rule every IR program needs.
Read Article →Flat, Flatter, Super-Polished: λ/10 vs λ/4 at 10.6 µm
The reference-wavelength trap, super-polishing below 1 Å RMS, and one decision rule for specifying flat optics.
Read Article →Reading MIL-PRF-13830B Like an Inspector: Scratch-Dig 40-20 vs 60-40
What the numbers actually mean on Ge and ZnSe, the micron myth, accumulation rules — and when over-spec just burns money.
Read Article →The Lens That Focuses at −40 °C and +70 °C
A worked walkthrough of passive athermalization: dn/dT budgets, negative elements, and letting the barrel do the work.
Read Article →CMMC Is Coming for Your Supply Chain
Your drawings are CUI. The questions to ask your optics vendor this quarter — before flow-down asks them for you.
Read Article →Five Reasons Your CO₂ Lens Dies Early
Thermal lensing, spatter, cleaning damage, wrong material, bargain absorption — the field list, with fixes.
Read Article →Haze on the Lens Is a Message. Read It.
Uniform fog, central cloud, or sharp shadowing — each pattern points to a different root cause, and one of them means replace now.
Read Article →Short or Long Focal Length? Geometry Decides
Spot size buys intensity; depth of field buys tolerance. The trade, quantified — with a selection table.
Read Article →Dia, ET, FL: Read the Lens Before You Order
Three numbers identify almost any lens. Measure them right and the replacement fits the first time.
Read Article →Custom Optics, Without the Mystery
From NDA to production: the five-stage arc every serious custom optics program follows — and what speeds a quote.
Read Article →Want These in Your Inbox?
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