Rapid Optical Prototyping
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Custom, multi-element assemblies can be prototyped, manufactured, and delivered in as little as four weeks.
at Thorlabs Lens Systems
Contact Us for Your Custom Optics Project
Our engineers and expertise are here for you!
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Anthony Giordano
General Manager
Thorlabs Lens Systems
If you have a custom or OEM project that requires rapid optical prototyping and production, we invite you to contact us about our QuickTurn™ Optics capabilities. Our responsive team is committed to rapid design and prototyping, with dedicated manufacturing cells to drive production times down to as little as 1 week for engineered components and 4 weeks for multi-element systems.
I look forward to discussing how our team can assist you in meeting demanding timelines for precision-engineered custom optics solutions.
Our design engineers rely on extensive experience and cutting-edge equipment to deliver a variety of challenging assemblies:
- Doublets and Triplets
- Fast Lenses
- Focus and Zoom Lens Assemblies
- Wide Field of View (FOV) Lenses
- Athermal Lens Systems
- Imaging Lens Assemblies and
Microscope Objectives
What are QuickTurn™ Optics?
Thorlabs is pleased to introduce QuickTurn™ Optics (QTO) capabilities for both optical lenses and full assemblies. With the acquisition of JML Optical in early 2023, we have greatly expanded our OEM optics production capabilities, allowing us to turn new ideas into reality, all within a fraction of typical industry lead times.
Using our rapid optical prototyping capabilities, we can deliver multi-element assemblies in as little as four weeks and engineered components in as little as one week from receipt of order. These quick turnaround times are key to ensuring the success of novel and updated optical and imaging instruments, devices, and platforms for the semiconductor, industrial, imaging, life science, medical devices, automotive, aerospace, and defense industries.
Housed within a 70,000 square foot space in Rochester, NY, our QuickTurn Optics facility incorporates manufacturing cells dedicated to generating, grinding, and polishing each glass type. As a result, we can significantly reduce the total manufacturing time typically needed when these functions are performed on different machines, all requiring separate planned production timelines. We also have optomechanical design, rapid prototyping, glass and metal fabrication, thin-film coating, metrology, environmental testing, and full assembly all under one roof to further reduce lead times for the production of plano, spherical, aspherical, cylindrical, acylindrical, and other optical elements.
Benefits of Rapid Optical Prototyping
- Lower Risk - Prototypes enable companies to test out a product design to ensure it operates and performs as intended. Companies can identify any design faults and make appropriate modifications before the design goes to full production, minimizing the risk of critical and costly mistakes.
- Design Flexibility - Companies can try design variations in parallel and then test them in head-to-head competition to determine the optimal design.
- Supports Buy-In - Having a physical model of the product often makes it easier to present ideas to stakeholders.
Why Use QuickTurn Optics?
- Decreased Time to Market - We offer a standard lead time of four weeks for QTO projects, depending on product design and material availability. Aspherical and cylindrical optics sometimes take a little longer, but our QTO lead times for these components are much shorter than industry standard lead times.
- Vertical Integration - We perform cutting, grinding, and polishing all in one manufacturing cell, eliminating typical wait times between these processes. Our QuickTurn facility also has expert engineering design, skilled fabrication, thin-film coating, cleanroom assembly, metrology, and environmental testing capabilities under one roof, further minimizing wait times.
- Continuous Evolution - We are investing in our machines and infrastructure to support a wider range of lens shapes. While our QTO initiative originally focused on plano and spherical lenses, we have since expanded our rapid prototyping and production capabilities to encompass aspherical and cylindrical lenses and optical assemblies.
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