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Optimax Systems, Inc
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  5. Optimax - Freeform Lens

Optimax - Freeform Lens

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Optical designers and integrators choose Optimax freeforms because our quality and reliability are second-to-none. We offer high-precision freeform optical shapes which have small footprints and lighter profiles, enabling reduced system complexity. With an expansive team of technical experts, Optimax is one of the largest leading producers of freeform optics, combining optimal grinding and smoothing technologies to fabricate precise components with positional and mid-spatial frequency errors. This allows us to take on the most challenging projects and we can generate high precision freeforms for UV, Visible and IR applications using proprietary techniques for low scatter surfaces.

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Freeform optics have been gaining popularity with lens designers for years. They empower optical designers to create more compact systems which weigh less than traditional optics while enabling them with greater flexibility. Freeform optical shapes are a doorway into a world of innovation, and Optimax is primed to help designers to take advantage of their unique capabilities.

FLATS / PLANOS
No curvature
Radial symmetry

SPHERES
Constant radius
Radial symmetry

ASPHERES
Varying radius
Radial symmetry

FREEFORMS
Non-constant curvature
Little to no symmetry

We have leveraged our advanced manufacturing technology to develop a variety of different types of freeform optical shapes and lenses, including.

  • Toroid
  • Atoroid/Biconic
  • Acylinder
  • Off-Axis Parabola (OAP)
  • Anamorph
  • XYZ Freeforms or Solid Model
  • Other Equation-Based Freeforms
The most common types of freeforms now are mild, wild and extreme.
The difference between these three is size, shape and measurability.
MILD
  • Interferometric test available
  • Applicable to most surfaces
  • Can measure freeform surfaces to fractional wave PV
WILD
  • Interferometric test not available
  • Typically measured using single point probe measurements
  • Applicable to most surfaces
  • Good for form errors to 1 um PV
EXTREME
  • Interferometric test not available
  • Typically measured using single point probe measurements
  • Applicable to most surfaces
  • Good for form errors to 1 um PV

Freeform optical shapes or surfaces are designed with little to no symmetry. As with highly complex aspheres, freeform optical design is influenced by local slope change and surface form, particularly when it comes to the complexity of the shape and the manufacturing process used. Freeform optical shapes are typically more complex than aspheres, and are considered by many to be the next generation for optical systems. The experienced team of optical fabricators at Optimax can work with equations, cloud of points, and/or robust 3D models. Although the demands of freeform optical manufacturing are extremely complicated, we have years of experience and accumulated technical know-how at our disposal. We are uniquely capable of rapidly delivering as specified freeforms with complex geometries in small, lightweight formats.

Our precision engineering and measurement capabilities allow us to tolerance strict limits for freeform surfaces, enabling the generation of mild, wild, and extreme surfaces. At Optimax, we work to ensure our collaborations are innovatively driven, meaning we are continuously looking for new ways to measure, specify, and tolerance freeform surfaces.

Learn more about the careful consideration given to manufacturing tolerances, the iterative process of deriving those tolerances, and general freeform manufacturing limits.