Products Home45° Mounting Adapters
- Fixed 45° Mounting Adapters for Mirror Mounts
- Adapters are Ø1" Post Mountable via 1/4"-20 (M6) Tapped Hole
MA45-2
For KM100 and KM200
Mirror Mounts
POLARIS-MA45
For Ø1" or Ø25 mm Polaris
Mirror Mounts
Application Idea
POLARIS-K1F Mirror Mount with POLARIS-LN1 Lock Nuts Mounted on a POLARIS-MA45 Adapter
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These mounting adapters are ideal for mounting Thorlabs mirror mounts at 45° with respect to an optical table, breadboard, or work surface. The MA45-2 is designed to mount standard Ø1" or Ø2" kinematic mirror mounts, and the POLARIS-MA45(/M) is designed to mount Ø1" or Ø25 mm Polaris® mirror mounts.
The POLARIS-MA45(/M) is constructed from 303 stainless steel, matching the material used to machine our Polaris mirror mounts for optimal thermal repeatability and vacuum compatibility. All Polaris products undergo extensive testing to ensure high quality performance; this testing can be viewed in the Polaris Test Data tab.
The MA45-2 (MA45-50/M) is constructed from anodized aluminum and is compatible with our Ø1" KM100 and Ø2" KM200 mirror mounts.
POLARIS-MA45 Positional Repeatability after Thermal Shock
Polaris® components have undergone extensive testing to ensure high-quality performance. Here, a Polaris mirror mount was secured to a POLARIS-MA45 which was then secured to a stainless steel rigid platform in a temperature-controlled environment. A beam from an independently temperature-stabilized laser diode was reflected by the mirror onto a position-sensing detector.
Purpose: This testing was done to determine how reliably the mirror mount and 45° mounting adapter system returns the mirror, without hysteresis, to its initial position. These measurements show that the alignment of the optical system is unaffected by the temperature shock.
Procedure: The temperature of the Polaris mount and adapter system tested was raised to 37.5 °C. This temperature shock was maintained for approximately 60 minutes (soak time, see Figures 2.1 and 2.2). Then the temperature of the mirror mount system was returned to the starting temperature. The results of these tests are shown in figures 2.1 and 2.2.
Results: As can be seen in Figures 2.1 and 2.2, when the Polaris mount and adapter system were returned to their initial temperature, the angular position (both pitch and yaw) of the mirrors returned to within 2 µrad of its initial position. The performance of the Polaris system was tested further by subjecting the mount to repeated temperature change cycles. After each cycle, the mirror mount system position reliably returned to within 2 µrad of its initial position.
Conclusions: The Polaris 45° mounting adapter paired with a Polaris mirror mount is a high-quality, ultra-stable system that will reliably return a mirror to its original position after cycling through a temperature change. As a result, this system is ideal for use in applications that require long-term alignment stability. This also shows that the addition of the POLARIS-MA45 to the Polaris mirror mount does not compromise the performance of the mirror mount alone.
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Figure 2.1 The plot above shows the pitch and yaw measured by a position-sensing detector before, while, and after a thermal shock was applied to the
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Figure 2.2 The plot above shows the final angular position of the system for 10 consecutive thermal shock tests. The change in temperature is the difference between the starting temperature and the temperature at the end of the test and includes factors such as the variation in room temperature.
| Posted Comments: | |
No HwangJu
(posted 2025-01-16 16:20:22.56) Dear Thorlabs Team,
I hope this email finds you well. My name is NoHwangJu, and I am currently a student studying at Gachon University in Korea.
While designing an optical setup in 3D CAD, I encountered an issue where the MA45-50/M and KM100 appear to be incompatible based on the STEP files provided on your website. Specifically, the distance from the hole to the outline of the KM100 is longer than that of the MA45-2 and MA45-50/M, causing an overlap in the 3D design.
I am wondering if this is due to an error in the 3D files or if there is another reason for the discrepancy. I would greatly appreciate your clarification on this matter.
Thank you for your time and assistance, and I look forward to your reply.
Best regards,
No HwangJu EGies
(posted 2025-03-28 05:53:48.0) Thank you for contacting Thorlabs, and for bringing this to our attention. I have reached out to you directly regarding this model interference. Daniel Fan
(posted 2024-10-14 19:29:34.723) Hello
Can this adapter be used with 2 inch polaris mirror mounts? If not, is there a way to mount a 2 inch polaris mirror at 45 degrees?
Thanks
Daniel jdelia
(posted 2024-10-30 11:15:35.0) Thank you for contacting Thorlabs. Unfortunately, the POLARIS-MA45/M is not compatible with 2" mounts. I have reached out to you directly via email to discuss your application. 201allenchiu
(posted 2018-05-10 07:56:23.813) Hi,
Can this product: POLARIS-MA45/M be used for a Ø2" Polaris Mirror Mounts? Thanks
Best,
Allen YLohia
(posted 2018-05-10 04:09:56.0) Hi Allen, thank you for contacting Thorlabs. Yes, you can use this adapter with your POLARIS-K2S2P mount that we discussed about since your Polaris mount's back plate thickness is 0.50" or less. Please note that 1/2" and 19mm mounts cannot be used since their adjusters interfere with the protrusion on the angle mount adapter. |
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Click to Enlarge Figure 493A A POLARIS-K1F Mirror Mount Held at 45° by a POLARIS-MA45 Mounted on a Ø1" Post which is Held by a
- Designed for Use With All Ø1" or Ø25 mm Polaris Mirror Mounts
- Vacuum Compatible to 10-9 Torr at 25 °C with Proper Bake Out
- Bottom-Located 1/4"-20 (M6) Tap Allows for Attachment to Ø1" (Ø25.0 mm) Posts
- Two Ø2 mm Alignment Pin Holes in the Base for Precision Mounting in OEM Systems
- Heat-Treated 303 Stainless Steel
Click for Details
Figure 493C POLARIS-MA45(/M) Mechanical Drawing
The POLARIS-MA45(/M) 45° Mounting Adapters securely mount Ø1" or Ø25 mm Polaris Mirror Mounts at a 45° angle with respect to the optical table, breadboard, or working surface. The adapter has an 8-32 (M4) tap on the 45° face for securing the mirror mount, and a bottom-located 1/4"-20 (M6) tap for attachment to Ø1" (Ø25.0 mm) Posts. Two Ø2 mm alignment pin holes around each tap allow for direct, precision mounting within custom or OEM systems (see Figure 493C for details).
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Figure 493B Each Polaris product undergoes extensive thermal testing to ensure high-quality performance. Please see the Polaris Test Data tab for additional test results.
When using our standard Ø1" or Ø25 mm Polaris mounts, the height to the center of the mirror will be 2" from the base of the mounting adapter when using the
This adapter is made from heat-treated 303 stainless steel, which has a relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and matches the material used in all of our Polaris mirror mounts. Matching the CTE of materials within an optical setup is essential to achieve optimal thermal repeatability. Heat treating the materials used removes the internal stresses that can cause temperature-dependent hysteresis. Therefore, when mounting, we only recommend using components fabricated from the same material. This is shown in Figure 493A, where a
Cleanroom and Vacuum Compatibility
The POLARIS-MA45(/M) is designed to be compatible with cleanroom and vacuum applications. They are chemically cleaned using the Carpenter AAA passivation method to remove sulfur, iron, and contaminants from the surface. After passivation, they are assembled in a clean environment and double vacuum bagged to eliminate contamination when transported into a cleanroom. Please contact Tech Support for details.
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- Designed for Use with Our KM100 and KM200 Kinematic Mirror Mounts
- Beam Height (to Center of Mounted Mirror):
- With KM100: 2.00" (50.8 mm)
- With KM200: 2.49" (63.2 mm)
- Bottom-Located 1/4"-20 (M6) Tap Allows for Attachment to Ø1" (Ø25.0 mm) Posts or Post Holder Bases
- Anodized Aluminum
The MA45-2 (MA45-50/M) 45° mounting adapter is designed to allow our KM100 and KM200 mirror mounts to be securely held at 45° with respect to the optical table, breadboard, or working surface. The beam height to the center of a mirror mounted in a KM100 on a MA45-2 is 2" (50.8 mm). The beam height of the same assembly using the KM200 is 2.49" (63.2 mm).
An 8-32 (M4) tap is provided on the 45° flat surface of the adapter so the KM100 can be directly fastened to that surface with a cap screw. This mounting adapter can be secured to our Ø1" (Ø25 mm) posts or post holder bases via a bottom-located 1/4"-20 (M6) cap screw.
45° Mounting Adapters
