Topic: Optics Cleaning / Polishing

[W3CET]

   Holiday Greetings Everyone !!!

  I Have a Question   !! ?? !!

  I managed to Smear or Damage the Optics ( Beam Spliter/Combiner )
 on my RGB(Violet) Laser  -- the Red Output looks like a Spot with a Flare coming off of it on the Right & Left sides of Red Beam ( Green and Blue (Violet) are Fine.  Is there anyway of Cleaning or Polishing the Optics for a Clean Beam ??  ( Looks like the Beam from the Red Laser Module is Clean, Looks distorted only thru the Beam-Splitter )
 
               Thanks,         Dr Bob   -  W3CET

[BlinkenLights]

i use the cloths that come with nice sunglasses (and that came with my laser glasses)

or use eyeglass cleaner kit

[James]

Can you get some lab grade isopropyl alcohol?

Sometimes the best thing to do is not to touch it at all, but just get a few drops of alcohol to flow over the surface.

I use a syringe with a needle to squirt it at the optic.

If the alcohol is clean and pure, it will evaporate with no residue.

Hopefully, whatever the mark is on your dichro will disolve.

James. 

[Lazerjock]

I'm an engineer for a company that makes laser range finders for the military. We have a clean room for assembling our lasers. We try not to touch the optics unless we have to. If we do we use Methanol and/or Acetone. Each will remove different types of contamination.

The problem with Methanol or any alcohol is that it absorbs moisture. This can leave a residue on the optic.
Many times we will start with Methanol and finish cleaning with Acetone.

There are many methods used to clean optics.

One is called the drag and drop method.
You start with the optic parallel to the ground.
Get a lens tissue (Kodak makes a version for cleaning camera optics) and put one drop of Acetone or Methanol on the tissue.
Now drag the wet part of the tissue across the optic until there no moisture left on the tissue.
Only use the tissue once.
This should remove any particles from the optic.

I understand that most of us don't have lens tissues, Methanol or Acetone laying around the house. So I would do what James recomended and use isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel. If the optic is in a mount and you can't do the drag and drop method, try a Q-tip. Be careful not to leave any strands of cotton. This is a very low tech method, but it might remove the contamination on your optic.

Hope this helps some.