What is an Enhanced or Protected Metal Coating?

Metal coatings are typically very delicate without a protective coating and require extra care during handling and cleaning. The surface of an unprotected metal coating should never be touched or cleaned with anything but clean, dry air.

A dielectric overcoat on a metallic mirror allows for improved handling of the component, increases the durability of the metal coating and provides protection from oxidation with little impact to the performance of the metal coating.

The dielectric layer(s) can also be designed to enhance the reflectance of the metal coating in specific spectral regions. Isopropyl alcohol or acetone can be used to clean our protected metal coated mirrors.

Bare and Protected Gold Coated Mirror

Gold coatings are effective for applications requiring high reflectance in the NIR and IR regions. Since a durable coating is necessary in many applications, we offer gold with a protective overcoat. The performance of gold (96% reflectivity from 750 – 1500nm) is maintained, but the optic has a more durable finish.

Common specifications of protected gold coated mirror