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What is the aperture of an optic?

The aperture is the usable opening diameter of an optic – the area through which light can enter the lens. Measured in millimetres. A larger aperture collects more light from the source – particularly important for laser diodes with a large emitter (e.g. Nichia NDG7575). Our Colli-LA collimator has a 5 mm aperture, gathering significantly more light than typical 3 mm collimators. Practical effect: brighter, more uniform output beam and less light lost at the diode edge. Related metric: the numerical aperture (NA) describes the ratio of aperture to focal length – and therefore the optic's acceptance angle.