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Innovative
Technology


Momentum's award-winning technology is based on two innovations.  First, laser-chemical machining is used to remove material without making physical contact with the surface.  No grinding.  No polishing.   Just an ultra-smooth surface finish.

Second, an in-tool sensor capable of nanometer resolution provides real-time surface measurements.  The sensor enables closed-loop feedback control resulting in greater machining precision while increasing throughput. 


10X

COST REDUCTION COMPARED TO 
SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING

1000X

HIGHER MATERIAL REMOVAL RATES
THAN LASER ABLATION

<0.5um​​
FIGURE ERROR

Empowering Innovative Products


The Challenge

Quickly bringing a new optics-enabled product to market is challenging with the high cost of prototyping, the slow turn-around in receiving custom optics, and the challenges of ramping up production to meet the demands of a changing market.


Solution

Momentum Optics can meet your needs using innovative laser-based manufacturing that enables cost-effective, high-quality, super-fast-turnaround optics.

✔ Affordable glass manufacturing

✔ Precision laser glass cutting

✔ Optical coating services

✔ Prototype to scale with full project lifecycle support

✔ Manage project budget with small- or large-scale ordering. Absolutely no minimum order quantities (MOQ).

✔ Custom digital manufacturing UI tools give you full control and rapid turnaround on quotes and ordering.

Radical form factors

We leveraging the latest technology to tackle modern challenges.  Freeform optics for heads-up-displays is one example.

Custom Solutions

We have a range of materials (preferred glass list) enabling quick production for aberration-corrected, imaging optics.  

Rapid Turnaround

We can help you iterate with industry leading delivery.  In some cases, we can turnaround optics in days.  Our solutions will keep you ahead of the curve.


Rapid Delivery

Custom optics have notoriously long lead times.  A two month wait is common especially for challenging optics like freeforms.   However, today's product design cycles are being compressed from 1-2 years to 3-4 months often placing optics on the critical path to market entry.  Now there is a better, faster path forward.  We don't measure delivery time in months.  In many cases, we can deliver precision optics in days.  Ultra-fast.  No Compromises.

Affordable

Custom optics are expensive which places them out of reach for some projects or forces designers to use ultra-conservative designs to avoid iterating on prototypes.   Momentum's digital manufacturing platform and underlying technology overcome the cost/time/performance barrier - we like to think of it as one-offs without the trade-offs. 

Why Glass?

Glass offers numerous advantages compared to plastic materials:

  • Broader Selection.  Materials with a wider range of refractive index and Abbe number
  • Environmental resilience.  More durable and scratch-resistant
  • Temperature tolerance.  Lower coefficient of thermal expansion and less temperature-induced changes to refractive index


Specifications and TolerancesPreferred Glass List

Specifications and Tolerances

Materials

Schott, CDGM and Corning glass. Zerodur ultra low-expansion ceramic.  Fused Silica is our go-to material.

Capabilities

Manufacturing:  Freeforms and highly aspheric surfaces, cylinders, phase masks and plates, lens arrays, diffusers, beam-shaping optics, collimators, and multi-aperture optics 

Laser Processing:  Holes, notches, texturing, scribing of glass, metals, and ceramics.  Through glass vias (TGV) 

Services

Optical and mechanical design.  Assemblies. Custom flat top generators are a core competency.

Diameter

Edge diameter (mechanical diameter) from 2-20 mm.  Clear aperture diameter 0.5-20 mm

Coatings

 AR coatings 250-12000 nm, HR 350-20000 nm, custom coatings, parts from 2 mm to 370 mm diameter

Lead Time

 Accelerated turn around as fast as 5 days for in-stock materials

Manufacturing Tolerances

Property Standard Precision High Precision
Edge Diameter (mm) + 0, - 0.1 + 0, - 0.075 + 0, - 0.05
Center Thickness (mm) ± 0.1 ± 0.075 ± 0.05
Clear Aperture >85% >90% >95%
Radius of Curvature < 0.1% < 0.05% < 0.025%
Irregularity (μm) RMS (profilometer) < ±1 < ±0.5 < ±0.25
Irregularity (μm) PV (profilometer) < ±2 < ±1 < ±0.5
Wedge (mm) < 0.05 < 0.030 < 0.015
Surface Roughness (nm) RMS < 5 < 1 < 0.5 (< 0.25 for fused silica)
Scratch/Dig 60/40 40/20 20/10

Preferred Glass List

We carry the following preferred glass for rapid manufacturing and turn around.  We can support a large number of many other materials.  If you have a material that you would like to see added to the list, please contact us.

Property Schott Equivalent CDGM Equivalent Corning Equivalent
Fused Silica: 7980 Standard (O, F) - JGS1 7980 Standard
Fused Silica: JGS1 Standard - JGS1 Standard 7980 Standard O, F
N-BK7, H-K9L N-BK7 H-K9L -
N-SF11, H-ZF13 N-SF11 H-ZF13 -
N-SF6, H-ZF7LA N-SF6 H-ZF7LA -
Zerodur Zerodur - -
D263 D263 - -
Borofloat 33 Borofloat 33 - 7740