It takes more than just the latest optical manufacturing technology to produce aspheres to high precision and production quantity levels. Manufacturing aspheres is a complex process with an array of variables, which is why it is crucial to team up with a company that not only employs the latest technology, but also has the required asphere manufacturing expertise. Vertex Optics has engineers and technicians with decades of experience in producing aspheres utilizing innovative deterministic grinding and sub-aperture polishing machines, as well as high precision metrology for manufacturing precision aspheres cost-effectively. This combination gives our customers confidence that they will receive aspheres that meet their precision and production requirements, no matter how mild or difficult their asphere job may be.
For generating the aspheric surface, Vertex counts on the OptiPro eSX CNC optical grinding machines. With 5-axes of computer-controlled motion and generous machine travels, Vertex can generate rough and fine grind surfaces for aspheres up to 300mm in diameter. For aspheres that are made from hard materials like sapphire or alumina Vertex has the OptiPro OptiSonic 550X ultrasonic machining center at its disposal. Ultrasonic tool motion allows for a much more efficient process when grinding extremely hard substrates.
For polishing aspheres to precision levels, Vertex utilizes the sub-aperture polishing process known as Ultra Form Finishing (UFF) found on the OptiPro UFF 300, UFF 80 and Triumph polishing machines. The flexibility of this process allows us to polish aspheres up to 300mm to specifications as precise as 0.2 Fringe PV, +, – 20 nm/mm slope, and surface roughness of 20 angstroms. The Vertex quality team measures slope using a Zygo interferometer with a CGH or the UltraSurf 4X 300 non-contact metrology system.
The technology at Vertex Optics can meet all requirements on a wide range of materials, including all optical glasses, crystals, and ceramics.