Optics: Other Lenses

You can choose from various lenses such as cylindrical lenses, ball lenses, and Fresnel lenses. Cylindrical lenses (cylinder lenses) are typically used to focus incident light into a line or to change the aspect ratio of an image. Ball lenses are commonly used in fiber coupling applications to improve signal quality and are also used in endoscopic examinations and barcode scanning applications. Due to their short back focus, ball lenses minimize the required distance between the lens and the optical fiber. Fresnel lenses are used in many focusing applications, such as condenser systems and emitter/detector configurations. A Fresnel lens is an optical lens that has a series of concentric grooves molded into a thin, flat plastic substrate. Each groove functions as a refractive surface while the thin substrate minimizes light absorption.