Anti-reflection
Single-layer MgF2 through high-efficiency multilayer AR, BBAR, and V-coat designs, matched to substrate and wavelength so more of the light reaches the far side of the optic.
ProductsOptical Coatings
Precision Optical Coatings.
IRD manufactures precision optical components and coordinates coating solutions for OEM programs in medical, laser, sensing, and industrial applications. IRD helps customers evaluate substrate and coating options based on durability, optical performance, environmental exposure, and system compatibility. Basic coatings can be applied in-house; advanced AR, HR, HLDT, and wavelength-specific coatings are coordinated through qualified coating partners.
What we manufacture
Start with what the optic must transmit, reflect, block, conduct, survive, or reference.
Mirrors and HLDT
Protected and enhanced aluminum, silver, gold, and dielectric stacks, ultra-high-reflective mirror coatings, and high-laser-damage-threshold AR and mirror designs.
Advanced requirements are confirmed through select, vetted coating partners
Filters and beamsplitters
Dichroic, fluorescence, narrow-bandpass, multi-bandpass, edge, and notch filters, with polarizing and non-polarizing beamsplitter stacks developed around wavelength, angle, and system balance.
Patterned, metallic, and conductive
Chrome, precious metal, and aluminum patterns for masks, gauges, and datums, plus metallization and ITO conductive layers where the optic is also an electrode or a reference.
Process capability
Manufacturing limits by process
These are IRD's published capability limits across materials and geometries, not a grade every part ships to. Open the process that controls your critical surface and quote against that one.
Coating feasibility is defined by the complete optical requirement. Provide substrate, clear aperture, spectral target, angle, polarization, environment, and inspection method.
| Attribute | Typical | Best case |
|---|---|---|
| DepositionMethod selected by design and substrate | Electron beam | DC sputtering available |
| Laser damage thresholdAdvanced stacks are confirmed against source and substrate conditions | Application-defined | Partner-qualified |
| Spectral coverageApplication-specific stack design | Visible | UV through IR |
| Layer structureAR, HR, beamsplitter, and filter stacks | Single layer | Complex multilayer |
| PatterningChrome, metals, masks, and datums | Full aperture | Custom pattern |
What decides a coating run
IRD's own high-damage-threshold research is explicit that damage threshold is largely determined before any layer is deposited. These are the controls that decide whether a coating run succeeds.
The substrate is decided before the stack is
Substrate composition and homogeneity, surface finish, subsurface damage, residual stress, polishing and cleaning residue, dust and other contamination, and the coating-substrate pair all contribute to damage threshold. Fabrication runs staged fixed-abrasive grinding and loose-abrasive lapping so each step removes the micro-cracks left by the one before it.
Polishing target for high-damage-threshold optics: better than 10 Å rmsCleaning is specified per component, not per shop
Hand cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, cascaded detergent baths, deionised-water rinsing, oven baking, spin drying, proprietary solvent washing, and hydrofluoric acid etching for stress relief. Most high-damage-threshold optics get a cleaning process built for the part rather than a general optics clean.
Edge geometry and masking are designed in, not fixed later
On one high-power mirror program, sharp slot edges shed fibers during cleaning and those fibers became coating defects that pulled the damage threshold down. A 50 µm bevel, the maximum the clear aperture allowed, plus a cleaning process built around it solved it. That decision belongs at design review, not after polishing.
Deposition method follows the design
Electron-beam evaporation and DC magnetron sputtering are different tools with different strengths. IRD's coating engineers select the method against the design and substrate, and run single- and multi-layer metallic, broadband, V-coat, polarizing, and HLDT stacks across both.
Capabilities
Capabilities, materials, and coating inputs
IRD supports customers from prototype through full production. Our precision coating and fabrication processes are designed to maintain optical clarity, improve durability, optimize laser performance, and support repeatable results in demanding environments. Our coated optical components are used in medical devices, laser systems, infrared sensing technologies, analytical instrumentation, and advanced manufacturing applications worldwide.
Capabilities
- Thin film optical coatings
- Anti-reflective (AR) coatings
- High reflectivity (HR) coatings
- UV reflective coatings
- Hydrophilic coatings
- Hydrophobic coatings
- Chemical strengthening
- Heat strengthening
- Precision machining, polishing, patterning, and coating of glass and optical materials
- Surface finished better than 1/20 wave
- Surface roughness below 2 Å Ra at best on qualified materials and geometries
- Custom optical coatings manufactured to the customer drawings
Performance
- AR / BBAR
- High reflection
- HLDT
- Bandpass
- Notch and edge
- Polarization
Materials
- Dielectric stacks
- Aluminum
- Silver
- Gold
- Chrome
- ITO
Inputs to quote
- Substrate
- Wavelength range
- Angle of incidence
- Polarization
- Damage threshold and environment
- Acceptance data and test method
Measured on
- Zygo GPI interferometer
- Zygo NewView
- Zygo Verifire XPZ
- Nikon 6D interferometer
- Micro-Vu automated vision system
- TriOptics Triangle
- TriOptics PrismMaster
- Starrett MVR300
- Zeiss Spectrum
- Zeiss O-Inspect
- Tagarno digital microscope
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
The answers an applications engineer would give you on the first call.
Start a quoteWhich stacks can you design for my wavelength?
IRD designs and applies coatings from ultraviolet through infrared. The achievable stack depends on the substrate, angle of incidence, polarization, and operating environment, so send those alongside the target curve. Two electron-beam chambers and one DC magnetron sputtering chamber cover the quick-turn in-house work; the complete offering runs beyond what those chambers alone cover.
What do you need in order to quote?
IRD's quoting checklist: application, product type, volume potential and schedule, material, dimensions, surface quality, coatings, assembly, cleaning, and packaging. Attach the drawing. For a new design the technical team runs a no-cost Design for Manufacturability review before quoting, then estimates prototype and production volumes separately.
Does IRD design the part?
No. IRD manufactures to your print or performance requirement and contributes material, process, and manufacturability input, the design stays with your team. When a print calls for tighter tolerances than the application requires, IRD will flag the potential over-specification, since it can add unnecessary cost. Final optical design decisions remain yours.
How large a part can you make?
Machining runs to 30″ × 16″ × 16″, polishing to 36″ diameter, grinding to 24″ diameter at 6″ height, lapping to 13.3″ diameter, waterjet to 40″ × 24″ × 2″, and dicing to 8″ diameter at .300″ thick. Larger geometry is quoted against whichever process controls the critical surface.
Which coatings are applied in-house?
IRD applies basic anti-reflective and metallic coatings in-house for quick turnaround. Other coating requirements are handled through select, vetted coating partners. Name the coating target in the RFQ and the team will confirm the route before quoting.
Can you take ITAR-controlled work?
IRD is registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, and controlled programs are manufactured and stored domestically across the Litchfield and Alexandria, Minnesota facilities. Both plants operate under quality systems certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 for ultra-high-precision glass, optical, and ceramic components.
How is the finished part protected in transit?
Packaging is tailored to the part and can include multi-layer foam, custom corrugated packaging, gel packs for sensitive optics, and military-grade cases. Components are supported on edges or non-critical surfaces outside the clear aperture and held against shifting in transit.
Technical documents
Use these IRD references when reviewing precision optical coatings requirements.
White paper
What Laser Users Should Know About Fabrication of High Damage Threshold Optics
Legacy technical paper. Company-profile details may be outdated; use current site pages for IRD facts. IRD's account of what moves damage threshold, substrate composition and homogeneity, subsurface damage, residual stress, polishing and cleaning residue, contamination, and the coating-substrate pair, plus the slotted-mirror bevel case study in full.
PDFTechnical articleMirror, Mirror on the Wall, Optical Coatings
A working tour of AR, high-reflective, dielectric, and metallic coatings, the deposition methods behind them, and how layer materials and thicknesses are chosen against a substrate's refractive index.
ArticleTechnical articleOptical Filters: Characteristics and Applications
How long-pass, short-pass, bandpass, notch, and dichroic filters differ, and when filter glass, a thin-film coating, or a combination of both is the right route.
Article
Start with the print
Send us your precision optical coatings requirement.
When optical performance depends on material selection, surface quality, and coating durability working together, IRD delivers engineered solutions built to specification. Send the substrate and its surface specification, the clear aperture, the spectral target with tolerances, angle of incidence, polarization, damage-threshold requirement with its wavelength and pulse conditions, operating environment, annual volume, and the acceptance data and test method you need with the parts. For a new design, the technical team runs a no-cost Design for Manufacturability review before quoting.
Final capability is quoted to the drawing. Achievable tolerance depends on material, feature size, geometry, coating, and production volume. Or call 320.693.7217. If IRD is coating your substrates rather than its own, send the incoming surface specification too, it usually sets the ceiling on what the stack can do.