Introduction

Andover Corporation is renowned for its high-performance optical filters, which are designed to meet the precise needs of various industries. These filters cover a broad spectrum from 193nm to 14μm, ensuring superior wavelength control, durability, and optical quality. Andover offers a diverse range of filters, including bandpass filters for transmitting specific wavelengths, neutral density (ND) filters for controlled light attenuation, infrared (IR) filters for thermal imaging and spectroscopy, and edge filters for spectral separation. Additionally, they provide specialised astronomy filters for both ground-based and space-borne telescopes.

Let’s delve into the diverse applications of Andover optical filters and understand how they contribute to technological advancements across different fields.

Medical Imaging

As medical imaging and diagnostic technologies continue to advance, Andover Corporation provides state-of-the-art optical solutions that transform applications ranging from fluorescence microscopy to sophisticated surgical systems. The biomedical industry faces increasingly complex optical challenges, such as the need for enhanced sensitivity for early disease detection, precise wavelength control for fluorescence and spectroscopic imaging, miniaturised components for endoscopic and point-of-care devices, high-performance filters for flow cytometry and DNA sequencing, specialised coatings for laser-based therapeutic systems, and dependable performance in demanding clinical environments.

Andover’s specialised optical technologies and custom solutions are tailored for critical biomedical applications, spanning UV, visible, and IR wavelength ranges. Andover supports advanced fluorescence microscopy, medical imaging systems, surgical visualisation, clinical diagnostics, flow cytometry, genomic sequencing, confocal microscopy, and optical coherence tomography. From pioneering research tools to life-saving medical devices, our reputation is built on pushing the boundaries of healthcare and life sciences through precision optics. Andover Corporation provides essential components for modern medical imaging, including ultra-narrow bandpass filters, high-transmission systems, custom dichroic beamsplitters, and steep-edge filters. The durable coatings and high-quality optics ensure superior signal separation and high-resolution performance, where accuracy and reliability are crucial in clinical settings.

Key filters include:

Bandpass Filters: These filters isolate specific wavelength ranges, crucial for applications like fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, where precise spectral control enhances signal clarity and detection sensitivity.
Hard-Coated Narrowband Filters: Ideal for fluorescence imaging and DNA sequencing, these filters provide high transmission and steep edges, ensuring accurate wavelength selection and minimal background noise.
Neutral Density Filters: Used to reduce light intensity without altering wavelength distribution, these filters are essential for imaging systems that require controlled light levels, such as confocal microscopy.
Anti-Reflective Coatings: These coatings improve performance by increasing transmission and enhancing contrast, making them vital for optical systems in demanding clinical environments.

Aerospace

As space exploration and satellite technology continue to evolve, Andover delivers cutting-edge solutions that revolutionise everything from Low Earth Orbit operations to deep space missions. The aerospace industry faces increasingly complex optical demands, including enhanced imaging capabilities for Earth observation and deep space exploration, miniaturised optical components for the growing small satellite and CubeSat market, radiation-resistant materials that ensure extended mission lifespans, sophisticated spectral filtering solutions for climate science and atmospheric research, and unprecedented precision requirements for next-generation space telescopes.

These filters, optimised for the harshest space environments, work across UV, visible, and IR wavelength ranges, enabling advanced imaging systems, navigation equipment, communication arrays, Earth observation platforms, and space-based telescopes.

Key filters include:

Space-Qualified IR Bandpass Filters are essential for isolating specific wavelengths in imaging systems, enhancing the clarity and detail of Earth observation and deep space images.
Hard-Coated Narrowband Filters provide steep transitions from high peak transmission to blocking, ensuring precise spectral filtering for climate science and atmospheric research.
Space-Qualified Dichroics split light into different wavelengths, crucial for multi-spectral and hyperspectral imaging systems.
Hard-Coated Broadband Filters deliver exceptional performance in high-temperature environments, making them ideal for various aerospace applications.

Military and Defence

As defence technologies advance toward more sophisticated surveillance, targeting, and communications systems, Andover Corporation delivers mission-critical optical solutions that enhance everything from thermal imaging to laser-guided systems. The defence industry demands unprecedented optical performance, including superior durability in extreme military environments, ultra-precise wavelength control for targeting systems, advanced coatings for multi-spectral imaging, high damage threshold optics for laser applications, specialised IR filters for thermal detection, and space-qualified components for satellite systems. Reliable performance in battlefield conditions is paramount.

Andover’s specialised optical technologies and custom solutions enable critical defence capabilities across thermal imaging and night vision, target acquisition systems, missile guidance, reconnaissance platforms, secure optical communications, hyperspectral imaging, laser rangefinding, and space-based surveillance. From tactical field systems to advanced aerospace platforms, Andover’s reputation is built on advancing national security through precision optics. Andover delivers mission-critical components—from ultra-durable IR filters and high-transmission coatings to custom dichroic beamsplitters and radiation-hardened optics. Their military-grade components ensure superior performance and reliability when failure is not an option. Key filters include Bandpass Filters, Beamsplitters, Edge Filters, and Neutral Density Filters, each playing a vital role in maintaining the integrity and effectiveness of defence systems.

Key filters include:

Bandpass Filters: These filters isolate specific frequency ranges, allowing only the desired wavelengths to pass through while blocking others. This is crucial for applications like radar and communication systems, where precise signal filtering is necessary.
Beamsplitters: Beamsplitters divide a beam of light into two separate beams, which is essential for applications such as laser rangefinding and optical communications. They can also combine two beams into one, enhancing the functionality of various optical systems.
Edge Filters: Edge filters provide a sharp transition between transmitting and blocking regions of the spectrum. They are used to differentiate between various wavelengths, improving the accuracy of imaging and navigation systems.
Neutral Density Filters: These filters reduce the intensity of light across a specific spectrum without altering the wavelength distribution. They are used in applications requiring controlled light levels, such as imaging systems and sensors.

Astronomy

For over 45 years, Andover Corporation has been at the forefront of astronomical innovation, enabling groundbreaking discoveries from Earth’s surface to the edges of known space. Modern astronomy demands unprecedented optical precision, including extreme wavelength selectivity for spectral line studies, ultra-high transmission efficiency for the best signal-to-noise ratio, superior optical quality for diffraction-limited imaging, cryogenic compatibility for space-based instruments, custom solutions for unique telescope designs, and reliable performance in harsh environments from ground to orbit.

The specialised astronomical filters and coatings are optimised for solar observation and research, deep-sky imaging, planetary science, spectroscopic studies, space-based telescopes, radio astronomy, hyperspectral imaging, and CubeSat and SmallSat missions. From the smallest university observatories to the largest space telescopes, Andover has earned their reputation by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in astronomical observation. Andover Corporation delivers the critical components that enable modern astronomy—from narrow-band H-alpha filters and precision UBVRI photometric sets to custom dichroics and infrared bandpass filters. The image-quality optics and environmentally stable coatings ensure maximum throughput and exceptional performance when every photon counts.

Astronomical observations benefit significantly from Andover’s precision filters. These filters are used in both ground-based and space-borne telescopes to isolate specific wavelengths of light, enabling astronomers to study celestial objects with greater detail and accuracy. The filters help reduce light pollution and enhance the visibility of faint objects in the night sky. Specialised filters like Bandpass Filters, Sloan Filters, KRON/Cousins UVBRI Filters, and Hard-Coated Broadband Filters are used to study different aspects of stars, galaxies and nebulae.

Key filters include:

Bandpass Filters: Isolate specific wavelength bands, crucial for observing particular spectral lines and reducing light pollution.
Sloan Filters: Used in photometric systems to study the properties of stars and galaxies across different wavelength bands.
KRON/Cousins UVBRI Filters: Essential for photometric measurements, providing data on the brightness and colour of celestial objects.
Hard-Coated Broadband Filters: Offer high durability and performance, ideal for capturing a wide range of wavelengths in various astronomical applications.

LiDAR and Remote Sensing

LiDAR technology is revolutionising industries with high-resolution, real-time 3D mapping capabilities. From autonomous vehicles to aerospace, environmental monitoring, industrial automation, and agriculture, Andover provides cutting-edge optical components that enhance performance, accuracy, and reliability. Key challenges in LiDAR and optical sensing include precision wavelength filtering for optimal signal-to-noise ratio, environmental durability for outdoor and aerospace applications, high-speed optical response for real-time data collection, multi-spectral imaging solutions for enhanced target detection, and ultra-precise optical coatings for increased efficiency.

Andover’s advanced coating technologies support a wide range of LiDAR-based applications, including autonomous vehicles, aerospace and defence, environmental monitoring and forestry, industrial automation and robotics, archaeology and infrastructure inspection, and agriculture and land management. Whether used for mapping vast landscapes or enabling safer navigation in self-driving cars, Andover Corporation’s precision optics ensure superior LiDAR performance in any environment.

Key filters include:

Hard-Coated Narrowband Filters: These filters provide high transmission and steep edges, crucial for isolating specific wavelengths and improving the signal-to-noise ratio in LiDAR systems.
Anti-Reflective Coatings: These coatings reduce reflection losses and enhance light transmission, improving the accuracy and reliability of LiDAR sensors in various environmental conditions.
Neutral Density Filters: These filters reduce light intensity without altering wavelength distribution, essential for controlling light levels in LiDAR systems and ensuring consistent performance.
Beamsplitters: Beamsplitters divide or combine light beams with exceptional precision, vital for applications such as laser-based measurement systems and 3D imaging.

Semiconductor & Advanced Manufacturing

Andover’s specialised optical technologies and custom solutions are tailored for critical semiconductor applications, spanning DUV, visible, and IR wavelength ranges. We support advanced photolithography systems, wafer inspection and metrology, plasma process monitoring, ion beam alignment, laser annealing, defect detection, photomask verification, and overlay measurement. Andover Corporation provides everything essential for modern semiconductor processing, including high-damage-threshold coatings, ultra-narrow bandpass filters, specialised dichroic beamsplitters, deep-UV optical systems, bandpass filters, and neutral density filters. Andover’s durable coatings and high-quality optics ensure superior performance and reliability in the demanding environment of semiconductor manufacturing, where precision and consistency are paramount.

Key filters include:

Bandpass Filters: These filters isolate specific wavelength ranges, allowing only the desired wavelengths to pass through while blocking others. This is crucial for applications like photolithography and defect detection, where precise spectral control enhances signal clarity and detection sensitivity.
Neutral Density Filters: Used to reduce light intensity without altering wavelength distribution, these filters are essential for controlling light levels in semiconductor processes, ensuring consistent performance in applications such as wafer inspection and metrology.

Spectroscopy

In spectroscopy, Andover optical filters are essential for analysing the spectral properties of materials. They are used to isolate specific wavelengths, allowing scientists to study the composition and characteristics of various substances. This application is vital in fields such as chemistry, environmental monitoring, and material science.

Key filters used in spectroscopy include:

Bandpass Filters: These filters isolate specific wavelength bands, allowing only the desired wavelengths to pass through while blocking others. This is crucial for observing discrete electronic transitions within atoms and molecules.
Dichroic Filters: Dichroic filters split light into different wavelengths, which is essential for multi-spectral and hyperspectral imaging systems used in spectroscopy.
Infrared Filters: These filters are optimised for isolating specific wavelengths in the infrared range, which is important for chemical identification and analysis.
Edge Filters: Edge filters provide a sharp transition between transmitting and blocking regions of the spectrum, used to differentiate between various wavelengths.

These filters are optimised for use across UV, visible, and IR wavelength ranges, ensuring superior performance and reliability in spectroscopy applications.

Machine Vision and Industrial Automation

Andover’s advanced optical technologies and custom solutions are optimised for critical machine vision applications, working across UV, visible, and IR ranges. This enable automated inspection systems, robot guidance and positioning, barcode and OCR reading, surface defect detection, colour sorting and verification, 3D measurement systems, high-speed production monitoring, and parts dimensional verification. From basic presence detection to advanced artificial intelligence systems, our reputation is built on advancing industrial automation through precision optics. Andover Corporation delivers essential optical components for modern machine vision, including specialised bandpass filters, neutral density solutions, custom dichroic beamsplitters, and edge filters. The durable coatings and image-quality optics ensure superior contrast and reliable performance when manufacturing efficiency and product quality depend on accurate vision system operation.

Andover filters are also employed in machine vision systems and industrial automation to improve the accuracy of visual inspections and quality control processes by isolating specific wavelengths. This ensures that automated systems can detect defects and variations in products with high precision.

Key filters include:

Bandpass Filters enhance contrast in imaging systems, making it easier to identify defects in manufacturing processes.
Anti-Reflective Coatings reduce glare and improve image clarity, essential for high-speed inspection systems.
Infrared Filters suppress unwanted ambient light and select specific wavelengths, optimising system performance in various industrial applications.
Beamsplitters divide or combine light beams with exceptional precision, crucial for applications such as laser-based measurement systems and 3D imaging.

Conclusion

Andover Corporation’s optical filters are pivotal in advancing technology across various industries. Their ability to provide precise wavelength control and superior optical quality makes them indispensable in applications ranging from medical imaging to aerospace and defence, astronomy, spectroscopy, machine vision, and remote sensing. As technology continues to evolve, Andover’s commitment to innovation ensures that their optical filters will remain at the forefront of scientific and industrial advancements.