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Freeform Optics

Polymer Freeform Optics for Lightweight, Complex Form Factors

Freeform optics have at least one surface which has no translational or rotational symmetry. Freeform polymer optics can unlock new ways to reduce part count, weight, and system footprint—but traditional optical design and metrology are often not able to keep up with these new optics.

FTI has decades of experience with designing, crafting, and measuring innovative freeform optics. 

FTI President Dr. Nelson Claytor was a featured speaker on Manufacturing
Methods at the 2024 Optica Freeform Optics Industry Summit. 

FTI Freeform Optics Capabilities

Freeform optics have emerged as a promising design technique to minimize size and weight of complex optical systems. The optics industry is still working to standardize on methods for designing, specifying, and measuring freeform optics. 

FTI offers proven experience in manufacturing and prototyping of freeform optics in polymers, metals, and IR crystals via diamond turning and milling, as well as in polymer molding and moldmaking. The manufacturing of freeform optics presents new and significant challenges in design, fabrication, and measurement. FTI uses our expertise and our in-house metrology lab to ensure that our freeform optics meet the high standard of precision that is a chief characteristic of all FTI products. 

  • Single point diamond turning for prototyping and small volume freeform manufacturing

  • Profilometry, functional testing, and process controls for QA in prototyping and volume production

  • Diamond machined aluminum freeform mirrors and freeform IR crystal optics

  • Precision injection molded polymer optics, with prototyping via diamond machining

Recent Freeform Optics Projects

Cubic phase plate for improved depth of field in a computational imaging platform.

Laser scanning optical array for home-use aesthetic dermatological device.

An injection-molded freeform optic made up of twenty-four non-rotationally symmetric optical surfaces, which makes a line of twelve focused spots when rotated in front of a fixed near infrared diode laser. This configuration significantly reduced the size and weight of the device.

Atoroidal lens for correcting keystone effect in a tightly folded projection system.

Cubic Phase web image
Aspheres vertical-1
Asteroid Lens web image

Discuss Your Project

FTI respects the proprietary nature of your project. NDA available upon request.

Fresnel Technologies

Fresnel Technologies, Inc. has specialized in high-precision polymer optics for nearly forty years. Our cutting-edge designs and unique expertise in molding and machining bring you the highest quality optics every time.

In order to best support our customers, we offer guidance and assistance throughout the entire product development process. From design, through prototyping, to production, we enable innovative optical systems.

Stock or custom, we’re your optics partner.

Contact Us

101 W. Morningside Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76110

Phone: (817) 926-7474
info@fresneltech.com

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