Enhanced Aluminum Mirrors

Special Properties

• High visible reflection
• Enhanced by dielectric overcoatings
• Excellent optical imaging accuracy
• No ghosting in the reflected image
• Broadband reflectivity
• Economically priced
• Available in large dimensions and with numerous thicknesses
• Efficient reflection of IR light (SEA-NIR)
• Wide angle of incidence range
• Perfect choice for large-volume projects

Typical Applications

• Mirrors for light and laser applications
• Large front surface mirrors
• Sensor technology
• Laser barcode readers and flatbed scanners
• Infrared mirrors
• Economical alternative to optical silver mirrors
• Laser projection scanners
• Redirecting mirrors
• Broadband mirror for episcopes, copiers, projectors, fax machines, projectors, and camera systems
• Laser beam steering mirrors
• Mirror optics for medical instruments
• Cost-saving replacement for gold metal mirrors
  (SEA-NIR)
• Front surface mirrors for bulk projects

Related mirror types

• SEA-UV Series
  (protected aluminum mirrors for the UV-IR range)
• SHP Series
  (optical silver front surface mirrors)

The SEA-VIS is the best-selling front surface mirror in our company's portfolio. It offers excellent reflection and high optical quality at a comparatively low price. Both enhanced aluminum mirror series, the SEA-VIS and the SEA-NIR, have a dielectric thin-film overcoating deposited on top of their highly reflective aluminum metal layer. This multi-layer overcoating considerably increases the optical reflectance over bare aluminum or protected aluminum mirrors and protects the metal coating from oxidation. Due to the thicker protective thin film coating, the SEA-VIS and the SEA-NIR mirrors show much better resistance to humidity, abrasion, and scratching than the sensitive coatings of protected aluminum or silver front surface mirrors.

The coating of the SEA mirrors is vacuum-deposited onto selected high-quality glass substrates. The mirrors achieve superior optical imaging accuracy because the coatings are coated directly on the front surface of a mirror-grade substrate. The light beam does not have to travel through the substrate glass twice to be reflected, as is the case with ordinary backside-coated mirrors. Hence, ghost images or the formation of phantom laser beams in the reflected image, which occur with backside-coated mirrors, are thus completely prevented.

SEA-VIS mirrors are economically priced optics. They are ideal for projects that require high optical reflectivity, imaging performance in the visible or near-infrared wavelength region, and high mechanical stability at a reasonable price. Therefore, the SEA-VIS is often the best choice for high-volume applications. We optimized the SEA-NIR mirror coating for the near-infrared wavelength region. Hence, they represent an economical alternative to gold-plated mirrors in this spectral range for many applications.

Further, we developed our protected aluminum SEA-UV mirror (separate datasheet) for ultraviolet wavelengths and broadband UV-VIS-IR applications. This mirror only has one thin protective SiO2 (quartz) layer on top of the metallic aluminum thin film to enable high UV reflectivity.

The SEA mirrors also work as laser mirrors for up to medium-power lasers. Please get in touch with our engineers to find out whether you can use our unmodified enhanced aluminum mirror with your laser application without modifications. We also fabricate our enhanced aluminum optical mirrors at large dimensions. Moreover, we can optimize and modify the protective overcoating layers to increase the reflectance for particular optical wavelengths if required. Please consider using our coating inquiry form to get a quotation for mirrors with individually adapted optical properties. For more information about our enhanced aluminum SEA-VIS and SEA-NIR front surface mirrors, please visit our FAQ web page or contact our engineers for support in developing your custom-designed enhanced aluminum front surface mirror optics.

Please click one of the following buttons or select the desired thickness from the thickness table to comfortably request a quote for individually dimensioned SEA-VIS or SEA-NIR enhanced aluminum mirrors.

 

Get a SEA-VIS quotation

48-hour express service

Get a SEA-NIR quotation

48-hour express service

Specifications

SEA-VIS and SEA-NIR optical reflection

Enlarge the curve to view details.

Stock Thicknesses

Please click a thickness to start the RFQ process:

Thickness (mm)	Tolerance
SEA-VIS Optimized for visible wavelengths
0,55	±0,05	✔
1,00	±0,10	✔
1,10	±0,10	✔
2,00	±0,20	✔
3,00	±0,20	✔
4,00	±0,20	✔
5,00	±0,20	✔
6,00	±0,20	✔
Request a SEA-VIS with another thickness
SEA-NIR Optimized for near-IR wavelengths
2,00	±0,20	✔
3,00	±0,20	✔
Request a SEA-NIR with another thickness
The thicknesses marked with "✔" are also available within 48-hour express service.

Reflectance specifications

SEA-VIS mirrors

• Reflectance > 94 % at 550 nm at i = 45°
• Average reflectance > 93 % at a wavelength range
  450–650 nm at a 15–45° angle of incidence
• Average reflectance > 92 % at wavelength
  550 nm for S&P-polarization at a 15–45° angle of incidence
• Other reflectivity, incident angles, wavelengths, or additional layers for laser applications are available on demand.

SEA-NIR mirrors

• Average reflectance > 93,5 % at a wavelength range of 700–1200 nm at i = 45°
• Other reflectivity or angles are available on demand.

Substrates

• Selected float glass
• Other substrate materials are possible on demand.

Coating Construction

• Metallic aluminum coating enhanced and protected by a dielectric multi-layer coating on top of a metal layer

Surface Flatness

• Depending on substrate
• Special flatness is possible on demand.

Cosmetic Surface Quality

• 80-50 scratch & dig or better (MIL-0-13830A)
• Other surface qualities are possible on demand.
  

Adherence & Abrasion

• Adherence according to MIL-C-675 C (tape test)
• Abrasion-resistant according to MIL-M-13508 C

Maximum Dimensions

• up to approximately 1024 mm × 1270 mm

Product Codes

• SEA-VIS (optimized for visible light energy)
• SEA-NIR (optimized for IR light energy)

If you need engineering support or help in your optics development process, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

 

Where is the shopping cart?

You may be wondering why there is no shopping cart on our website. Since every application requires different dimensions and our typical delivery time frame for individually sized optical mirrors and many other optics is less than a week, we have refrained from limiting ourselves to a few standard sizes. A shopping cart for a handful of items with limited fixed sizes does not make sense for a manufacturing company because it rarely represents an optimal solution for our customers.

Short lead times are also possible for more substantial quantities, as our company has specialized in the fast production of mirrors and other optics with individual dimensions. We even offer our 48-hour express service to manufacture and deliver custom-sized optics with stock thicknesses within only two working days. This period is shorter than it usually takes to receive a price quotation in the optical industry, and is quicker than many retail companies can ship their catalog stock optics with fixed dimensions. A shopping cart is no advantage if you quickly need optics that fit your needs perfectly.

 

Please visit our product overview if you are searching for other mirrors, filters, windows, substrates, beamsplitters, or other optical components for light and laser applications.

 

All given details and properties are mean reference values and are not guaranteed. Also, please consider our "Notes on Technical Specifications".

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Last update: 29.09.2023