Thin-Film Design
Omega Optical’s design services are founded on years of technical experience. We were one of the first companies to embrace computer-aided thin-film design practices in the 1970s and have remained at the forefront. Many of our designers have also worked in the manufacturing department. This insight streamlines the design process, avoiding designs that are difficult to manufacture. It also allows us to quickly pick the right materials system and deposition process for your individual application and set of specifications. Involving us in the early stages of conception is important in order to maximize the design process and optimize the filters to your application.
Our goal is to play a collaborative role in your projects within the Life Science, Industrial, Commercial, Astronomy, Defense and Aerospace markets.
Manufacturing
We have the ability to coat a full range of materials, from metals and fluorides to hard oxides and semiconductors. A number of our coating systems employ physical vapor deposition (PVD with thermal sources or electron-beams) with or without ion assist (IAD) and substrate heating. Dual-magnetron sputtering for prototyping and plasma-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering capabilities (PARMS) are also available in our highest capacity coating chambers. Monitoring of the coating process is performed optically or with quartz-crystal monitors to ensure accuracy in our processes. The computer-controlled PARMS systems are also capable of realizing Rugate and co-sputtered designs. No single technology is ideal for every application. As a world-class manufacturer, Omega Optical knows the attributes and limitation of each and utilizes multiple technologies to achieve the best results for a given application.
Optical Fabrication
Omega’s Optics shop is crucial to many steps in the manufacturing process. Raw (rough sawn) glass plates are ground and polished to the desired thickness with state-of-the-art flat optic surfacing capability; SPEEDFAM 16B-5 lapper and double-sided polisher. These machines have the ability to quickly process large quantities of optical glass with high precision. For small lots or specialty substrates, we have spindle, double planetary and high-speed polishers. Plates are checked for flatness with certified optical flats or the Davidson interferometer before proceeding to the coating steps.
After coating, the parts are either scribed and broken or cut to size with diamond-tooled machines including CNC drills, shapers, and saws, along with cylindrical grinders and Mildex surfacers for desired edge treatments. Our fully equipped machine shop produces custom filter rings, wheels, and holders as well as jigs used during the deposition process. Filter components are cleaned ultrasonically and assembled under laminar flow hoods. We also have laser and ink marking capabilities for the addition of part numbers or alignment marks on individual pieces. Our final assembly department is adept at fabricating assemblies from their individual components.