Additive Optics Fabrication – Printed Optics Technology
Additive Optics Fabrication technology 3D prints optical structures and elements using industrial inkjet equipment. The process – also known as ‘Additive Optics Manufacturing’ – avoids complicated and costly conventional processes, such as injection molding, diamond turning, polishing and grinding, used to produce many types of optical components.
The Process at a Glance
The additive optics fabrication process includes deposition of transparent droplets of a UV-curable acrylic jetted and cured by strong UV-lamps onto a given surface (substrate). The results of the process are geometric or freeform shapes that may include transparent prisms or lenses, as well as full-color 3D graphics and textures.
The key element of the technology is the controllable print head, which enables an extremely accurate deposition of optical quality resins. Even though the material is deposited in discrete drops, the resulting surface is smooth. This is accomplished by delaying the time between the jetting of the droplets and the application and strength of UV light, which gives the acrylic material some time to flow and for each droplet to lose its spherical form. Optical quality surfaces are achieved with no post-processing.
On the contrary to smooth surface finishes, defined frosted surfaces finishes can be applied to demand to serve, for example, light scattering or anti-glare purposes in lighting applications.
Rapid Prototyping Custom Optics
Printed Optics were initially invented by the Dutch company Luxexcel back in 2009. Since, the technology for digitally produced optics has significantly evolved, leading to new freedom in design and materials selection.
Anyone in search for fast, flexible and cost-effective custom optics prototypes and pre-series can take benefit of the unique advantages digital optics processing offers. No matter it’s about the validation of your digital design, forecasting or justify your tooling investment, or to impress your marketing team or customer, tailored optics can be available in as fast as a few days.
Today, additive fabrication services for custom optics fabrication are brought to you by Lumenworkx Engineering, an Expert Design, Technology and Sourcing Consultancy specialized in digital fabrication technologies for the lighting industry. Lumenworkx represents a broad portfolio for nano-, micro and macro optics fabrication solutions.
