Cell construction specifications

Cell construction specifications

All the cells Starna manufacture, unless specifically designed otherwise, are assembled using the ‘fully fused’ method. This technique, pioneered and perfected by Optiglass Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Starna international group of companies), ensures that cells are fused into a single homogeneous unit by heat alone, using no intermediate adhesives. The cells achieve maximum physical strength as well as being unaffected by solvents.

All cells are carefully annealed to remove any residual strain left from the fusing process and, with few exceptions, can be used safely with pressure differentials of up to three atmospheres.

General Specifications:
Windows parallel to:	better than 3 minutes of arc
Window flatness to:	less than 4 Newton fringes
Window polish:	60/40 scratch/dig

Material:	Path lengths	Tolerance
Optical Glass	up to 20mm	+/- 0.1mm
Optical Glass	30 to 100mm	+/- 0.2mm
.	.	.
Special Optical Glass	up to 20mm	+/- 0.01mm
Special Optical Glass	30 to 100mm	+/- 0.02mm
.	.	.
Quartz	up to 0.05mm	+/- 0.001mm
Quartz	0.1 to 0.4mm	+/- 0.005mm
Quartz	0.5 to 100mm	+/- 0.01mm

The cells can be used with most solvents and acidic solutions.

Acids such as HF should be avoided as they will attack the quartz itself while most other acids will not affect the cells. Strongly basic solutions (pH 9.0 and above) will etch the surface of the windows and shorten the useful life of the cells

Material Specifications

Starna offer four primary window materials, Optical Glass, Special Optical Glass for the visible range, Spectrosil® Quartz for the far UV range and Infrasil® Quartz or equivalent for the near infrared. Other window materials are available such as Borofloat (PX), UV Silica (HH), Spectrosil ® WFQuartz (WF) and Suprasil® 300. If a material required is not shown please contact us for availability.

All materials used are fully guaranteed to transmit greater than 80% in the following usable wavelength range:

Optical Glass G	334 through 2500 nm
Special Optical Glass SOG	320 through 2500 nm
Borofloat PX	325 through 2500 nm
UV Silica HH	220 through 2500 nm
Spectrosil® Quartz Q	190 through 2700 nm
Infrasil® I	220 through 3800 nm
Suprasil® 300 Quartz SX	190 through 3500nm

For fluorescent applications Spectrosil is recommended as it does not exhibit any background fluorescence. Some other materials, especially Glass and lower grades of quartz may have some background fluorescence.

Standard window thickness is 1.25mm, polished to a flatness tolerance of better than 4 Newton Fringes per centimetre in the viewing area. They are typically flat to better than 1 micron (0.001mm) over the whole window area. The scratch and dig specification for surface polish is 60/40.

The meticulous care taken in the preparation and construction of regular quartz fluorescent cells allows for normal tolerances to be sufficiently stringent for use in laser applications. Starna also manufactures a variety of Laser cells for specific applications, including both Axicon and Bethune Dye Laser cells.


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