PowerPhotonic, designer and manufacturer of precision, freeform, wafer-scale optics presented two papers and chaired multiple sessions in advanced micro-optic fabrication at the Optica Design and Fabrication Congress, Canada, earlier this June. The focus of this year’s congress and papers was on new developments in the shaping, smoothing, testing and manufacture of optics and optical systems.

Natalia Trela-McDonald, Head of Solutions at PowerPhotonic, presented her paper, ‘Breaking symmetry constraints in freeform design for refractive beam shapers’ and chaired three sessions for the Optical Fabrication and Testing committee on advanced micro-optic fabrication. Her colleague, Callum Wreford, Lead Engineer, also presented his paper, ‘Solutions of the Monge-Ampere equation for freeform optics to transform between different ideal beam distributions.’

Natalia said, “It was a pleasure to present a paper at Optica and chair the advanced micro-optic fabrication sessions. PowerPhotonic’s wafer-scale optics are freeform, so are not limited by the constraints of rotational symmetry used in traditional, optical lens design and manufacture. We use a “direct write” process, which requires no mask sets or intermediate production steps, accelerating the delivery of new product designs. Finally, our proprietary, laser smoothing process ‘heals’ the lens surface to greatly reduce the scatter and absorption of light – increasing its threshold for laser damage. The result is the world’s smoothest, freeform, wafer scale optics – highly relevant to the congress audience and this years’ committee focus.”

PowerPhotonic is a corporate member of Optica, formerly the OSA (Optical Society of America). The Optica Design and Fabrication Congress hosts both the Optical Fabrication and Testing (OF&T) Conference and the International Optical Design Conference.

For more information on Optica Design and Fabrication Congress 2023, click here:

https://www.optica.org/en-us/events/congress/optical_design_and_fabrication_congress/