PROVIDENCE, RI--(Marketwired - Feb 17, 2016) - Meller Optics, Inc. has introduced a line of sapphire and ruby balls which can be precision ground into lenses featuring short focal lengths for micro air vehicles or fly-sized insect drones used in military surveillance. Meller Sapphire and Ruby Balls feature 9 Moh hardness, which is second only to diamond and, come in 42 inch and metric sizes from 0.1mm to 0.5" dia. with 0.000025" sphericity and ±0.0001" basic diameter tolerance. Suitable for fabricating short focal length micro lenses, they can be precision ground into plano-convex lenses with surface finishes to 80-20 scratch-dig. Unaffected by fast moving dirt and impervious to most chemicals, solvents, and detergents, Meller Sapphire and Ruby Balls crafted into lenses for micro air vehicle applications are available A/R coated and provide 85 to 98% typical transmission, depending upon application. Applications for balls include bearings, check valves, stylus tips, and fiber optic lens systems. Meller Sapphire and Ruby Balls are priced according to material, size, and quantity; delivered from stock. Samples and price quotations are available upon request. About Meller Optics, Inc. Founded in 1921, Meller Optics has been providing high quality optics to defense, medical, laser, and industrial markets for 90 years now. Specializing in the grinding and polishing of hard, durable materials such as sapphire and ruby, the company has also developed high-speed, low-cost finishing processes for a variety of optical materials such as laser glasses, fused silica, zinc selenide, germanium, silicon, fluorides, and ceramic materials. Configurations include windows, substrates, lenses, domes, and prisms. Meller Optics is ISO 9001:2008 certified and in addition to providing standard, off-the-shelf products, they custom fabricate components that meet exacting specifications from delicate, difficult to work with optical materials. They also supply quality Microlux Alumina polishing abrasives and Gugolz optical polishing pitch.